A Test of Affection
by BlackVelvetBand
Summary: The prequel to Tossed Aside. Talent can never be proven unless it is tested, so in a way is also true of affection. Shunsui takes Nanao on their first mission together in the real world. NOW COMPLETE!
1. The Secret Thorns of Roses

A/N: Hello again good readers! I recently posted a challenge on the main forums but was quickly informed by one of my courteous readers that doing so violates our terms of agreement on this site. I must admit that I have been a member here for quite sometime, though my penname has undergone many revisions and I had written no stories until this past spring. Because of this, I was lax during my re-reading of the terms. I apologize for this breach. I had this little gem for a short, chaptered story tucked away however, and it seemed fitting, as I am promoting my **Shunsui and Nanao Challenge** that I begin posting the first chapter. **If you are interested in entering the challenge, the details are in the author's note at the bottom of the page**. (I checked, and there's nothing saying I can't post a challenge in this manner as long as a story precedes it, it is in the author's note and not posted on its own).

* * *

**A Test of Affection: _A Prequel to Tossed Aside  
_****By BlackVelvetBand**

**Chapter One: The Secret Thorns of Roses**

"Good morning, Nanao-chan!" Shunsui Kyōraku sang as he burst through the door of the Eighth Division office in a blur of retina-scarring pink and lurid red, his teeth shining whiter than the mid-afternoon sun.

"I believe you mean good afternoon, sir," Nanao corrected, barely controlling her impulse to roll her eyes at her Taichō of just over a month. Though she was still slightly shocked at how someone so _lazy_ could ever become a captain, Nanao prided herself on her quick ability to adjust to any situation, despite how… _unsavory_ the situation might appear at the time.

Nanao frowned as she completed another piece of tedious paperwork and placed it neatly on the stack with its fellows. She had almost finished _her_ share of the paperwork for the day. She had been planning on taking her usual twenty-minute lunch break before returning to the office in order to wade into the chaos which was her Taichō's half of the office.

It looked as if a paper bomb had exploded, showering the nearby area in crumpled and ink-stained forms, which would need to be painstakingly flattened and completed. However, she was already too aware that the presence of her Taichō at this relatively early hour of the day (for him, at least) denoted that her plans were about to be effectively stamped on with all the youthful exuberance that only her positively insane Taichō could muster.

Shunsui ignored the fact that Nanao was clearly ignoring _him_ as best as she possibly could and ambled into the office, his arms wide and outstretched as if he expected his Fukitaichō to come flying into them.

Nanao snorted derisively at the idea. Though Kyōraku Shunsui was undoubtedly…_attractive_ physically, it was one attraction that Nanao was positive she would _never_ act on. This was not merely because he was her superior officer, but because Nanao was quite certain that any flash of heat she _might_ have felt at that easy smile, the twinkle of his earthen eyes, or the graceful gestures of his calloused hands, was easily squelched beneath the incredible weight of his numerous faults.

For one, Shunsui Kyōraku was a womanizer, and a notorious one at that. He was also a terrible drunkard. Her new Taichō drank more sake in an hour than Nanao drank water in a _day_. This was saying something as she religiously made sure that she drank the prescribed eight to ten glasses, in order to maintain the optimum level of health.

Kyōraku Taichō was incredibly lazy. He always managed to somehow weasel out of his paperwork. It was easy to see why so many fukutaichōs before her had thrown in the proverbial towel after only a few weeks, months at the most. If one was Fukutaichō of the Eighth, one was second in command when it came to everything else, but commander-in-chief of the paperwork completion.

To top off all of these major faults, there were the other, smaller things which bothered Nanao to no end.

He wrote absolutely _detestable_ poetry, which usually revolved around flowers and sappy sentiments of love for whichever shinigami he happened to be eyeing at the time.

His hair was almost always tousled, even though he kept it pulled out of his face. It grated on her nerves as _her_ hair was constantly and impeccably neat. In addition to this offense, he adamantly refused to prescribe to the dress code, wearing a bright turquoise sash around his hakama. But this garment _paled_ in comparison to that ridiculously flamboyant pink and red haori which he wore like a mantle of serenity everywhere he went.

Honestly, what man proudly wore _pink_?

But nothing, _nothing_ compared to the fact that he _insisted_ on calling her that detestable nickname.

Nanao-chan.

She had never been 'little' Nanao in her entire life. Anyone who had dared call her such a demeaning thing was usually subjected to the ultimate sentence― the removal of the glasses.

"You're so pensive today, my cute Nanao-chan," Shunsui chided as he leaned on the immaculately polished surface of Nanao's desk. His warm, tan hand closed around the hand which was not clutching the pen she was currently considering ramming into his eyeball.

Nanao gritted her teeth, glaring up at his stupidly smiling face through her flashing lenses.

"We're you thinking about your beloved Taichō?" he teased.

_Breathe_, Nanao commanded herself.

That was another thing she wanted to strangle Kyōraku Taichō for. Somehow, he had gotten it into his evidently pea-sized brain that he should pursue the one woman he knew he could never have, _ever_.

Her.

And, to make it all the more infuriating, he proclaimed his undying affections for his 'wonderful, beauteous Nanao-chan' at least ten times a day and always in the presence of another division member. She could not remember ever reading in the list of her responsibilities as a fukitaichō that being mocked repeatedly was one of them.

"_Beloved_ is a strong word, sir," she responded monotonously to his previous insinuation, arching a brow at him. "And I didn't think that being thoughtful was a punishable offense, despite the fact that _I_ would be the only one in the room displaying such a quality."

Shunsui stiffened for a moment, shifting his weight so he was no longer leaning on the desk. Nanao wondered if perhaps in her frustration and annoyance, she had crossed the line, endangering her still rather precarious position as Fukitaichō beyond repair.

Then Shunsui did something she had not expected.

He laughed.

Nanao flushed in anger and a small part of her (one she refused to acknowledge) in relief. _Would the mockery never end? _

"So, Nanao-chan has a spine beneath the layers of crisp obedience?" Shunsui chuckled, his dark eyes twinkling. He plucked the pen out of Nanao's hand, grinning even further at her outraged expression. "That's very good, because today, my Nanao-chan must trade in her pen for her sword!"

"Kyōraku Taichō, don't be ridic―" she began but then her brain finally registered what he had just said. "What _are_ you talking about, sir?"

"_Yare_, Nanao-chan, have you stopped listening to your Taichō already?" Shunsui scolded playfully, as he strolled around the desk with the aura of a child who knew a large piece of interesting news and was about to divulge it.

"Certainly not, sir," Nanao replied primly, standing up neatly and brushing non-existent lint from the front of her uniform in a practiced motion. "However, I could have sworn you said that I would be trading in my pen for my sword."

"And so I did," Shunsui said, standing _much_ too close for Nanao's liking. So close, in fact, that she could smell the scent of spicy incense mingled with sake which always lingered in the air whenever he brushed too near her (which was quite frequently). Nanao was forced to crane her neck in order to look him in the eye. Shunsui appeared to delight in the knowledge that his broad frame dwarfed her petite one.

"Explain, sir," Nanao demanded, refusing to break his gaze, despite the fact that she was practically melting from the heat rendered from this unaccustomed closeness.

"We have a date, my Nanao-chan," Shunsui informed her, his face inches away from her own.

Truly, he delighted in the steely glower she gave him. His new straight-laced Fukutaichō was simply too much fun to tease.

However, Shunsui reflected as he thought about how efficiently she finished the loathsome paperwork, the delightful way she resisted his advances (unlike many of the other female vice-captains before her) and, most of all, that _everything_ about her virtually perfect appearance _screamed_ for him to come and ruffle her feathers. Oh how he longed to discover the real woman who lay beneath the polished marble exterior.

Yes, Nanao had only been with him for a month, but he was already more attached and intrigued by her than he had been to the last five women who had preceded her. One month was hardly long enough to scratch the surface of Ise Nanao. Yet, the time had come for Shunsui to put his new Fukutaichō to the test.

He would find out if Nanao-chan intended to last.

He was surprised at how very badly he wanted her to.

Shunsui wrenched himself out of his reverie in order to enjoy the brand new flush which was rapidly blooming across her elegant features.

"_Sir_," she said warningly.

"_Relax_, my Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, tweaking her nose just to watch her reaction. "I merely meant that you and I have a date in the real world…with hollows," he added, as her hand darted up to adjust her glasses.

She had never removed them in his presence but he had heard from her good friend Matsumoto Rangiku that it was _never_ a good thing when she did.

"Begging your pardon, Kyōraku Taichō," Nanao said, sincerely nonplussed. "Why aren't they sending lower-seated shinigami to dispose of the problem?"

"Because I asked them not to," Shunsui said cheerfully. "They were going to send a different Fukutaichō and a third seat from another squad, but I humbly asked if we could take their place."

"May I ask _why_, sir?" Nanao asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Of course," Shunsui said. "I have heard rumors that this beautiful rose has dangerous thorns. I want to see if these particular rumors are true," he added, leaning down slightly so that his lips hovered over hers.

"Sir," Nanao breathed, determinedly maintaining the uncomfortable lack of distance between them.

"Yes, sweet Nanao-chan?" Shunsui replied, his voice low and husky.

"What happened that there's such a high concentration of hollows in one location?"

Shunsui grinned at the practical question. She was the only woman to have ever uttered such a… _useful_ thing at this distance from his lips. His smile faded as he remembered the real reason that he and Nanao were going on this outing.

"A landslide near a small village in the mountains," he replied quietly. "There were few survivors."

"Oh," Nanao whispered. For once words seemed to have failed her.

"So," Shunsui said, his tone falsely bright, "you must fetch your zanpakutō, Nanao-chan. Unless you want me to get it _for_ you," he added with a roguish wink. "I have also heard another rumor that you always keep it tucked inside your shirt, whether we have orders to be armed or not."

He walked his hand down the collar of her shirt, tugging playfully on the folds of it. She slapped his hand away sharply.

"Thorns indeed," he murmured appreciatively as his hand smarted from the force of her blow.

"I am sufficiently prepared, sir," she snapped, her violet eyes flashing menacingly behind the wire frames.

"I am as well!" Shunsui cried, throwing back his haori to reveal his _Katen Kyōkotsu _hanging nonchalantly from his belt.

"Come then, my lovely Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, grabbing her hand and tugging her after him and out the door. "It is time to see what you're made of!"

Nanao drew in a sharp breath. She was not sure if it derived from her nervousness at the possibility of failing miserably at the first real task her Taichō had set for her, or from the unexpected tingling sensation which was currently dancing up her arm from where his warm hand had wrapped itself securely around hers.

* * *

**A/N: Review, or Nanao will remove the glasses!**

Also, don't forget to check out and enter:

**The Shunsui and Nanao Challenge**

**Presented by BlackVelvetBand**

**To Enter**:

Write a short story, no more than five chapters. One-shots are perfectly acceptable.

Stories can either be completely original or if you choose to, may follow one of the five prompts offered below. Again, prompts are there to use if you want to use them, using a prompt is not required.

There is no rating limit and no specific word limit.

If you decide to enter the challenge, contact me by sending a PM stating your intention to enter the challenge. I will be keeping a list of competitors so that no one gets lost in the shuffle. This step must be completed by Saturday, September 2.

When you are ready to submit, post your story as you would normally do on Then, contact me, either using the information provided in my profile or through PM that your story is ready for submission along with its title. I have created a C2 archive where all challenge entries can be found in one easy place both by those looking to read, and those of us who are judging.

Entries must be completed and submitted by Sunday, September 9.

After all entries are "collected" I and a small panel of volunteer judges (who have already contacted me) will read the submissions. Awards (listed below) will be distributed to the best written stories.

Authors may submit more than one entry, but no author will win more than one award. Writing more than one story however, increases your chances of such an occurrence, and fills the world with more Shunsui/Nanao.

**Awards:**

The Pink Haori: Best Overall Story

_Katen Kyōkotsu:_ Best Action Sequence

The Rose Petal: Best Dramatic Piece

The Flashing Glasses Award: Best Unseen Plot-twist

The Sake Bottle: Most Creative Plotline

**Possible Prompts:**

1. blue haori, crushed glasses, and the quote "slippery sea monster"

2. odd behavior, cookies, and the quote "Great balls of Kidō!"

3. red lipstick, ponytail, and the quote "Play it again, Nanao."

4. bandages, singed eyebrows and the quote "I enjoy wriggling my toes"

5. tongue twisters, blonde hair, and the quote "my cup runneth over."

Much thanks to those of you who already entered, keep working on those stories.

Even if you usually don't ship Shunsui/Nanao or have never tried writing them before, give it a shot. Talent can never be proven unless it is challenged.

HAVE FUN!


	2. Mountain of Memories

A/N: School finally started again, and I spent much of the first two days spacing out while the teachers read us the syllabi as if we were to ignorant to comprehend them ourselves for all eight of our hour and a half long classes. However, that inattention did help produce this next chapter in this pre-Tossed Aside saga. I have decided that much of this story will be spent in the Spanish countryside. We're never told that shinigami only serve Japan, but I would like to argue that people die all over the world. If you're wondering why _Spain_ of all places, you'll find out in a later chapter.

* * *

**A Test of Affection  
****Chapter Two: Mountain of Memories**

"We're nearly there, my lovely Nanao-chan," Shunsui said with a cheery smile that Nanao didn't notice. She was too busy staring at her feet as she navigated the rocky terrain of the mountain they were currently climbing. She brushed her bangs off of her sweaty forehead with an irritated scowl.

"Sir, with all due respect, may I ask you to demonstrate some courtesy and not address me in such an unprofessional manner?" Nanao growled, taking her gaze off of the ground long enough to level a glare at him.

"Certainly you may _ask_," Shunsui replied flash-stepping up a four foot high jut of rock in the middle of their path, "but that doesn't mean I'm going to do as you request, _Nanao_-_chan_."

Bidding herself not to unleash her strongest kidō attack at her captain, Nanao went to shunpo the distance as well, but found her torso suddenly clasped by two large hands.

Shunsui deposited his downright rankled Fukutaichō in front of him with a playful smirk.

"Kyōraku Taichō," she said indignantly, resisting the urge to stamp her foot childishly in frustration, "I did complete the academy's curriculum and am perfectly able to use shunpo satisfactorily."

"I know, Nanao-chan," Shunsui assured her, his eyes scanning the horizon. He shunpo-ed once more up a slightly less vertical drop, allowing his Fukutaichō to follow him, this time without assistance.

"Then why did you help me, sir?" Nanao scowled when she stood next to him once again.

Shunsui wrapped one arm around the small of her back, tugging her against him in a fluid motion that had her head reeling from its incredible speed. Nanao blinked in surprise at suddenly finding her body pressed against her Taichō's muscular frame, her hands resting on his chest. Despite the unforgivable inappropriateness of their position, she could not help but clinically catalogue the pleasant difference between the cooling mountain air and the gentle warmth of Shunsui's body. Shunsui gazed down at her, her eyes wide behind her oval lenses and chuckled.

"Perhaps I just like to touch you, my cute Nanao-chan," he teased.

Nanao dealt him a sharp blow to the chest which stung surprisingly, but it was not nearly enough to make him let go of her if he didn't want to. Shunsui let his arm slide away from her waist easily, watching as she adjusted her glasses. He thought for a moment that he was _sorely_ tempted to find out what horrors awaited the man who drove her to take them off. Shunsui vowed that he would find out somehow before she left his division, which hopefully gave him an exceptionally long duration of time to concoct a devious plan that would turn her wrath on someone other than himself.

Nanao raised her chin primly. "_Perhaps_ I dislike being touched, sir," she grated out. "Besides, it is highly inappropriate for a superior officer to act in such a frivolous manner with his subordinate."

"I don't think you're telling the truth," Shunsui said, shaking his head. Nanao bit her lip to keep from letting out a barrage of curses that would put a drunken Matsumoto to shame. "According to Ran-san, you allow _her_ to hug you, so I don't seriously believe that you don't like to be touched."

"Matsumoto Fukitaichō is a long-standing friend, not the Taichō in charge of my own division," Nanao sniffed. "And her hugs are…_unavoidable_." Nanao cringed slightly as she thought of her best friend's infamous Hugs of Death.

Shunsui laughed loudly as he pictured neat and proper Nanao's face crushed between his drinking partner's generous cleavage.

"In any case, Nanao-chan," he continued, undeterred by her argument, "if one does not have fun with his coworkers, how else is someone supposed to make such a boring job more appealing? I think it's the reason the higher-ups never get anything done. They're too busy worrying about maintaining the stick up their ass, instead of having a good laugh and getting the things that matter done."

Nanao stared dumbfounded at the back of Shunsui's head. He was so…_irreverent_.

Was there _nothing_ this man respected? Had he no pride in the institution which had granted him the position of a leader? She also thought it was a bit rich of him, as he never did anything, to be complaining about the poor functionality of the military bureaucracy.

Shaking her head, Nanao stared at her surroundings. The brightly colored wildflowers dotting the landscape waved merrily at her, bordered by the rustling grass which grew stubbornly on the rocky mountainside.

"Kyōraku Taichō," Nanao said suddenly, surprised she had not thought to ask it before, "where exactly are we?"

"In the Andalusian countryside," he supplied, glancing over his shoulder at her shocked expression. Nanao, like many of the younger and newer ranked officers had never been sent to such a remote location.

"Andalusia?" Nanao repeated, astonished. "We're in _Spain_?"

Shunsui smiled in satisfaction. He should have known that his sharp Fukutaichō would be as knowledgeable about world geography as she was everything else. "Yes, my intelligent Nanao-chan," Shunsui returned warmly. "We are indeed in the picturesque mountains of romantic Spain."

He wriggled his eyebrows at her suggestively and was delighted when she rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance. Nanao's stoic composure kept cracking further as he continued to ruffle her meticulously maintained feathers.

"Ah, here we are, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said as he came to a halt on top of a hefty, flat boulder. He titled his hat back with the forefinger of his right hand and stared grimly out at the scene below him.

Nanao clambered up next to him, the boulder only wide enough to house them when they were standing so close that their arms were touching. He heard her quiet gasp of surprise and reveled in it.

So, his Nanao-chan still felt empathy, despite the fact that many shinigami tried so desperately not to feel anything at all. Though she struggled to maintain her unaffected façade, she was unsuccessful at keeping the emotions at bay that were flickering across her indigo gaze. Shunsui was so immensely relieved in this moment that his Nanao-chan had ended up at his side, instead of being placed in the Sixth Division as she almost was. He was sure that the alabaster Kuchiki Byakuya would have erased forever the fascinating woman he was just picking the surface of.

Shunsui turned his attention back to the landscape. It appeared as if an entire ledge of the mountain had broken off, sending a barrage of jagged rocks careening down the mountain slope in an avalanche of dirt and lethal weight.

The small herding village below had been crushed ruthlessly under the tide. Jagged and broken posts which had once supported the simple dwellings pierced through the dark earth like broken bones. flattened wildflowers seemed to adorn the upturned land like nature's half-hearted attempt to adorn the graves of the people she had so prematurely buried, their pale limbs crushed under unfeeling stone.

And there, standing chained to the wreckage, were more than a hundred souls, clinging to each other in confused amazement, not quite comprehending the vicious truth.

"Come, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, unsheathing his zanpakutō. "We must try to get as many souls safely on their way before the hollows arrive."

Nanao nodded mutely and set off after him.

_He's so kind_, Nanao thought as she watched her new Taichō bend down to speak in his low rumble to a scared-looking boy who looked no older than ten years old. Startled, Nanao realized it was one of the first good things she had ever noticed about him.

Shunsui whispered to the boy for a few minutes, trying to comfort him as he continuously asked where his parents were. Nanao knew, just as well as her Taichō did, that finding two people in this mass of souls was a near impossible feat, and their work had to be done swiftly.

Nanao wrenched her attention from this captivating side of her captain, turning it to the spirit of an old woman. The grizzled woman seemed to understand in a fashion, who Nanao was and what she had come for. Drawing her treasured katana out of the folds of her uniform, Nanao gently touched its hilt to the woman's forehead.

She began to make her way toward the next soul when she caught sight of her Taichō, still kneeling in front of the now quieted boy.

"It's not so bad there," Shunsui was saying. "You meet all sorts of interesting people. There's also no minimum drinking age and the women are all exceedingly pretty."

"Like her?" the boy asked softly, gesturing towards Nanao. She flushed pinker than her captain's favorite garment.

Shunsui glanced at Nanao's startled expression and nodded his head. "You have excellent taste," he commended the boy. "Not all females can be as lovely as my Nanao-chan, but they come quite close."

The boy nodded in understanding and the movement prodded Nanao into action. She moved among the souls, sending them to Soul Society as speedily as possible, with a mixture of sympathy and horror reverberating through her.

Nanao smiled gently and tried to be reassuring. She attempted to send family members right after each other, in order to increase their almost impossible odds of finding each other again in Rukongai, all the while despair slashed savagely at her faint hope.

"Ise Fukutaichō!" the crackling voice blared in her ear, causing Nanao to jump. This being her first major mission in the real world, Nanao was unused to wearing the small communication device and had completely forgotten it was there. She pressed her hand to the small button just above the microphone that would open her end of the transmission.

"Hai," she said, releasing the button.

"We've picked up traces of hollows converging on your location. Your time is running out. You've got to smack those souls over the head _before_ they become hollow bait." Nanao frowned at the crude speech of the technology assistant, but understood his urgency.

"Understood," she replied before taking her hand off of the button and beginning to quickly administer the konsō to any and all souls around her, murmuring quick apologies.

"Kyōraku Taichō," she called loudly. He looked up at her as he simultaneously brought the hilts of his twin swords to rest on the foreheads of a young couple. "We have to hurry, they've caught traces of hollows. We don't have much time!"

"_Yare_," Shunsui breathed, beginning to move faster. He felt terrible as souls questioned him. He eased them as best he could in the few seconds before he brought his hilt to their heads. It was better they made it safely to Soul Society in a state of confusion than not make it there at all.

Shunsui caught sight of Nanao as she toiled nearby with a cluster of souls who were reluctant to let go of one another. He took note of the shape of her zanpakutō. He also observed the way she wielded it, with a slight awkwardness as if she wasn't quite comfortable with it. Yet, like all things Nanao did, she used it with an ever-present efficiency that seemed to embody the visible essence of Ise Nanao.

Precious minutes passed. Nanao's sense of urgency grew as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, her very receptive senses picking up the approaching reiatsus. She knew that Shunsui felt it too. He was now using shunpo to move from one group of souls to another, his twin swords glinting in the sunlight as he brought them down on forehead after forehead.

"Ise Fukutaichō, they're almost on you!" the voice accompanied by a blast of static screeched in her ear. Nanao looked around wildly, sighing in relief when she saw that Shunsui had moved on to the very last huddle of souls.

_We're going to make it_, Nanao thought dizzily.

She turned her head sharply when a slight movement caught her eye. There, standing between the shattered remains of what might have been a doorway was the soul of a young man.

He stood with his hands in the pockets of his pants, the sleeves of his light brown work shirt rolled up to his elbows. The sun played off of his jet black hair which fell roguishly into his lowered eyes. The way he stood seemed oddly familiar.

Nanao hurried over to him, her sword arm raised.

Then the young man glanced up, his hazel eyes full of an amused acceptance of his fate.

Nanao froze.

"Are you here to take me to the netherworld, muerte linda?" he asked calmly in his slightly scratchy voice.

Nanao's arm fell limply to her side.

That voice. That face. Those _eyes_.

It was _him_.

The clothes might be different; the hair slightly longer, the skin a more olive hue, but it was _him_.

He stared intently at her, his head cocked to the side. "Maybe death is silent after all," he commented, his eyebrow raised. His voice jarred Nanao into action.

"I'm sending you to the Soul Society. You have nothing to fear," she said stiffly.

"Will I see you there?" he asked in what would have been a suggestive way, except for the presence of the small, sad smirk gracing his handsome face.

"I'm afraid we don't have time for conversation. You are in danger here."

She tried to force herself to raise her arm, to perform the konsō, to rid herself of his face. The same face which had haunted her that she tried to eradicate from memory.

It wasn't him, it _couldn't_ be him. Yet, they were so similar that Nanao's heart could barely tell the difference. She closed her eyes, forcing her wild emotions into check.

Her lids flew open as a blood-curdling shriek rent the sepulchral air.

The hollows had arrived.

A/N: Review or the hollows will claw you to pieces!

* * *

Also, **I'm still accepting entries for the Shunsui/Nanao Challenge!** You can enter any time up until next week's deadline just by posting a story and telling me of its existence. For rules, etc., see the Author's Note at the Bottom of Chapter One. 


	3. Fight and Failure

A/N: Finally, I finished the next chapter. I'm sorry for the delay, but school has already become merciless with the homework load. I edited this quickly to ensure that it would be posted tonight, so please excuse any grammatical errors that might be left. Don't forget to review!

* * *

**A Test of Affection  
****Chapter Three: Fight and Failure**

Shunsui turned on his heel, his prized haori fanning around him in a graceful arc as the hollow's shriek rent the air. He spun his Katen Kyōkotsu in his sun-browned hands, readjusting his grip on them. He was surprised not to feel his Fukutaichō's presence close to him. Was Nanao's austere and fearless demeanor merely a façade? Was the Nanao whose morning-glory eyes would light with the inner fire of conviction, spirit, and courage just a flimsy image put on for his benefit in order to mask the fact that she was really scared of a mere hollow?

Shunsui glanced over his shoulder and almost dropped his swords in astonishment.

Nanao was standing rooted to the spot in front of the only remaining soul, which was that of a man with mused onyx hair. She was staring at the man as though hypnotized, seemingly transfixed. That wasn't what was truly strange, however.

What truly struck Shunsui as bizarre was that Nanao's constant and careful control over her significant reiatsu had vanished completely. Her spirit energy was radiating off her in inconsistent waves that soared past levels Shunsui had thought possible from such a small slip of a woman. And…she was _trembling_.

The hollow, it appeared did not care about Nanao's significant change in reiatsu level. It did however, apparently care about being ignored. Shunsui swore richly as the creature's jagged talons grazed his forearm. He shunpo-ed out of its reach in a fraction of a second, his zanpakutō crossed menacingly in front of him.

Nanao needed to get herself under control.

So what did it matter that this particular soul so resembled the first man she had ever fallen in love with? He had been dead for years; she had mourned his passing for weeks, even though she had known full well at the time that she was being foolish.

_This isn't him, _Nanao told herself firmly. _This isn't him and he never loved you, anyway. _

A shrill cry reverberated through the still air before ending abruptly.

Nanao did not need to turn around to know that her Taichō had defeated the hollow.

_No thanks to you, _she thought acrimoniously.

She had failed.

What was a fukutaichō good for, except to aid his or her Taichō? She had just _stood there_, overcome by the resounding feeling of inadequacy which snaked its way into every level of her personal and professional life.

Nanao swayed unsteadily as her reiatsu soared, fueled by her rampant emotions. Regret, grief, anger, and pain swirled together, uniting both her past and present failures.

"Hey, are you alright?" The soul's eyebrows rose in concern, his hand stretching out towards her. "Is this the part where you take me to the beyond? Is that why your eyes are glowing?"

Nanao inhaled a breath which seared through her lungs and straight to her aching heart. The look on this soul's face reflected the caring that _he_ had never shown her. The caring that _he_ had used her for because she was so easily susceptible to his numerous charms.

"No," she whispered. The spirit reached out one long-fingered hand to hold her arm and Nanao stepped backward in repugnance. Her foot caught on a piece of debris and she fell― straight into a solid chest.

Shunsui's hands gripped Nanao's waist, holding most of her weight. He struggled to maintain his hold on her, her pulsing reiatsu nearly shoving him relentlessly away from her.

"What's wrong, Nanao-chan?" Shunsui asked. When Nanao didn't respond, he spun her around forcefully so that she was facing him, her hands instinctively falling against his chest. "Nanao!" Shunsui yanked her chin up to meet his gaze, startled to discover that the eyes behind the glasses were blazing a strange mix of molten gold and vivid, electric blue.

"Nanao-chan," Shunsui whispered. She blinked dazedly as she looked into his anxious face, the light rapidly draining from her eyes, leaving them their normal shade of blue-violet.

Nanao sagged slightly against him. Shunsui steadied her, gazing at her in amazement.

"Sir," Nanao said feebly, her hands falling weakly from where they had buried themselves in the fabric of his haori.

"Yare, Nanao-chan," he breathed. He had completely forgotten that they had an audience. "What the hell was that?"

"Sir, l―" she began, unexpectedly throwing her arm over his neck.

"Why Nanao-chan," Shunsui crooned teasingly, "I had no idea that you reciprocated my feelings!"

This statement was pointedly drowned out as the woman in his arms shouted, "Hakudō number 54, Abolishing Flames!"

There was a rocketing blast so powerful that both Shunsui and Nanao were lifted off of their feet as a furious explosion erupted behind them. Nanao let out a cry of pain as her back collided with a half-buried board, a cracking sound from the region of her head indicating that her favorite hair piece had been snapped in half.

Shunsui, who was able to gain his bearings in mid-flight, landed heavily next to her in a crouch.

Nanao coughed as she moved into a sitting position, her nostrils full of the acrid smell of roasted hollow flesh. A few pieces floated by her cheek before disintegrating into the air.

"I didn't think my company was _that_ intolerable," Shunsui coughed. "Otherwise, I think you may be trying _too_ hard if you're playing hard to get, Nanao-chan."

Nanao fixed him with a glare from behind her askew glasses. It made him smile as the reappearance of Nanao's most accustomed expression meant that she was, for the most part, back to her normal self.

"There was a hollow behind you, sir," she stated archly as she took the hand he offered to help her up out of sheer reflex.

"I was quite aware of that," Shunsui returned, "it was why I was keeping myself firmly between you and it. I didn't become Taichō just by being attractive, Nanao-chan," he said, shaking his head disparagingly.

Shunsui's eyes narrowed as they came to rest on the soul of the man who was standing, his expression more than slightly shocked, a good ten feet from where they had left him. Shunsui strolled over to where the dark-haired spirit was staring at the chain protruding from his chest with a disbelieving expression. It was as if he couldn't quite believe that death wore pink haoris or took the form of a petite woman with enough power to disintegrate an enormous monster into infinitesimal pieces of ash.

"Kyōraku Taichō," Nanao said sharply when she realized where he was heading. Her voice wavered slightly when her eyes fell upon the mysterious soul's face who was regarding her with a mixture of amazement, and what Shunsui realized was, unmistakably, appreciation.

He wasn't quite sure which one rankled him more, that, for a reason unknown to him, this single soul had had more success in cracking open Nanao's armored shell in a few minutes than he'd had in an entire month of diligent trying, or that he was glancing at Nanao like she was a rare and exotic creature he'd never seen before.

"Hello," Shunsui said with a large, insincere smile as he gave a small flourishing bow to the man. "Kyōraku Shunsui, Taichō of the Eighth Division," he said smoothly.

"Nice coat," the man said with a sardonic smile, but Shunsui was more than gratified to see apprehension blooming in the soul's dark eyes.

"Thank you, I'm rather attached to it myself," Shunsui returned. "How are you doing?"

"For being dead? Quite well, actually," the man responded, turning his head to look at Shunsui who now had his elbow resting on the soul's shoulder as if they were old friends just meeting after a long time apart. "I never thought that it would be this…_interesting_. Or breathtaking," the man added as his gaze fell on Nanao.

Shunsui saw her visibly stiffen from where she stood, a little over a foot away. It seemed she was well aware that the eyes of both men were upon her, despite the fact that her eyes were glued firmly to the ground, her shoulder-length hair tumbling steadily out of the broken clip.

"Ah, now she― I mean _there_― is where we have a slight problem," Shunsui said, moving his elbow off of the man's shoulder and bringing to it rest on the hilt of his sword. "You see, Nanao-chan and I came here in order to save your soul, as part of our mission. The other part of said mission is to defeat the rather nasty horde of monsters that is quietly gathering behind us."

Nanao whirled around, dislodging more hair with the motion. She gasped as her eyes roved over the large, and previously unnoticed cluster of hollows, that were making their unusually silent way toward their pray about one-hundred yards away.

"_Sir_," Nanao said warningly but Shunsui waved her off.

"Not right now, Nanao-chan, I'm conversing with this fine soul here. You," Shunsui continued, "are unfortunately interfering with both of those objectives, as you have greatly upset my lovely Nanao-chan, which is simply unacceptable on any level."

Nanao's head whipped around in surprise, as both annoyance at the possessive adjective Shunsui had placed in front of the name he had already butchered, and a rush of surprising affection at her new Taicho's desire to protect her, waged within her.

"Kyōraku Taichō, I am not your Nanao _anything_," she said sternly as irritation won the battle.

"Denial does not become you, _my_ brilliant Nanao-chan," Shunsui chided, gesturing dismissively. "Ignore her," Shunsui bid the man. "As I was saying, I believe that the time has come to… let you go," he said this lightly, but there was a hint of understanding in his tone that Nanao somehow knew was directed at her.

The man nodded. The sardonic smile returned to his face as he watched Shunsui unsheathe his swords once more.

"So, my time has come, has it?" he said, brushing a strand of dark hair out of his eyes.

"Yes," Shunsui said firmly, as the hollows which were now less than ten feet away, bellowed their preliminary bestial battle cries. The soul looked at Nanao, who dropped her gaze determinedly, nodding in affirmation.

"Well then, thank you for protecting me from whatever _those_ are," he said, eyeing the approaching hollows. "Alright," he said, stretching his arms out in a mocking manner, "I'm ready." He looked directly at Nanao. "Goodbye, muerte linda."

Nanao turned sharply on her heel to face the hollows just as Shunsui brought the hilt of one of his zanpakutō down on the man's head with unnecessary force.

"Nanao-chan," Shunsui said as he made his way toward her side, twirling his KatenKyōkotsu.

"Yes, Kyōraku Taichō?" she asked, spirit energy crackling dangerously around her fingertips.

"Whoever he was, I didn't like him," Shunsui said firmly, dismembering the nearest hollow. The way he said it made Nanao feel instinctively that her Taichō somehow understood the entire situation perfectly

Nanao shot a kidō spell into the midst of the hollows, taking out two and scattering the rest.

_For once_, she thought savagely, _at least we agree on something. _

- - -

Nanao stared in amazement as her Captain darted by her, leaping nimbly off of the already disappearing skull of one hollow, only to slice open the skull of its adjacent comrade. He landed gracefully, turning on the spot as he imbedded his twin swords into two different hollows. Wrenching the blades free without waiting for the creatures to drift into nothingness, he returned to stand back to back with her, the remaining hollows fanning out around them.

They had been battling for at least an hour and a half, yet Shunsui did not even appear to be winded in the slightest. He hadn't even released his shikai.

Nanao on the other hand, was breathing in a labored fashion, her glasses slipping down her nose, sweat running in rivulets down her back. Determined to make up for her failure to assist her Taichō earlier in the day, her abhorrent weakness, Nanao refused to relent. Her kidō rolled off of her fingertips in furious waves, decimating anything in its wake.

Shunsui was just as fascinated by Nanao in battle as she was by him. No one would ever look at the petite and impeccable Ise Nanao, who sat and diligently completed both sets of paperwork, and identify her with this person. This woman whose glasses flashed bright enough to rival the kiss of sun on steel, who motions were guided by adrenaline, instinct, and passion, executed with a strong and dancer-like grace. This Nanao, whose hair ebony hair tumbled down her shoulders like an extension of her barely tamed kidō.

Her breaths came in short pants, her breasts rising and falling tantalizingly. What was the reason that there wasn't a line of men (and a few select women) lining up to try their hand at this delectable and intriguing mystery confined in a neat and pretty package?

A hollow lunged at him, its leering white mask cracking easily under the force of one blade, while the other sank itself directly into the flesh of the creature's head.

A small gasp of surprise issued behind him. Shunsui whirled around to see Nanao duck a blow from a nearby hollow's spiked tail. The spikes tore a sizeable hole in her sleeve but he was unable to see if the creature had managed to wound her.

Nanao lobbed a burst of kidō at the hollow but missed because she was forced to jump over the creature's tail as it tried to knock her legs out from underneath her. Shunsui scrambled to her aid but his path was soon blocked by another gruesome white visage.

Nanao dodged the hollow's tail, but couldn't regain her footing on the uneven soil in time. She stumbled, the hollow descending upon her.

Nanao threw herself face-forward onto the ground in a desperate attempt to avoid the razor-sharp claws that had just swiped the air where her face had been only a moment ago. Her glasses, which had already been sliding down the sweat-slicked bridge of her nose, flew off in the fall.

"Nanao-chan!" Shunsui shouted frantically as he heard her cry out in unmistakable panic.

Fear flooded her, she groped for the glass shields which were essential in maintaining her secret.

"Nanao! Look out!" Shunsui cried in warning.

Nanao rolled over, her uncovered electric blue eyes resting on the hollow for a fraction of second.

For that was all time in which the hollow had left to live.

* * *

A/N: Review or you'll have to clean every sake bottle in the Eighth Division for recycling purposes! Also, don't forget that stories for the **Shunsui/Nanao Challenge are supposed to be due tomorrow. If you're really scrambling for time, send me a message and we'll work something out. (I don't bite).**


	4. Dispatching with Formalities

A/N: Here's another chapter. Please forgive all spelling and grammar mistakes in this chapter. I did edit it, but not as carefully as I should have because I wanted you all to have it in time for the new week! Also, the judges are still in the process of voting for the Shunsui/Nanao Challenge, the stories are all so good, it's rather difficult. They will be posted with the next chapter of this story, so keep an eye out.

* * *

**A Test of Affection  
****Chapter Four: Dispatching with Formalities**

Nanao was lying on the ground, her lost glasses lying a few precious feet out of her fingertips' reach as the enormous hollow bore down upon her. Shunsui shouted her name as cold fear clenched around the part of his heart that cringed at the thought of losing such a dedicated and efficient subordinate. The much less accessible part of his heart, the one that Nanao had already captured in the efficient and all-encompassing way she did everything, stopped completely.

Before he fully had time to grasp what had happened, Shunsui was crouching on the ground, one arm thrown up over his face to block the positively blinding explosion that followed. Wind whipped up the fabric of his haori, pulling his hair almost painfully back from his face, his hat carried away in the wake of its force.

Shunsui lowered his arm as instinct urged him to get to Nanao and get there fast. He knew she was still alive; her reiatsu was a palpable, surging, and threatening mass that raged with raw emotion that was almost tangible. Desperation and fear for survival had unleashed the Ise Nanao that Shunsui was sure most people would cower in fear before, the Ise Nanao that no one knew existed.

The smoke dissipated slowly, Shunsui rushed forward to aid his Fukutaichō who was being beset upon by the penultimate hollow. The hollow's claw sliced through the air, its long nails attempting to disembowel his lovely Nanao-chan.

She leapt backwards as Shunsui waited for an opening where he could get the hollow from behind when Nanao's face turned so that it was angled toward him. Shunsui noticed with shock that her eyes were not fixed on the hollow, but at the ground. She was chanting a long, drawn-out and lyrical kidō spell. Energy crackled up her arm as the creature took one step towards her at the same time Nanao hastily retreated two.

So riveted was Shunsui's by this delicate dance that he would have missed the large and spiked tail that came soaring towards his gut, had it not been for his excellent peripheral vision. Whirling on his heel, he swiped sideways with both swords, slicing the creature's tail clear off.

The hollow screamed a noise that sounded horribly like a thousand nails grating on slate. It lunged at Shunsui who vaulted off of the ground, burying both swords into the base of the creature's skull.

He retrieved his zanpakutō from where they had landed, imbedded in the soft earth, and turned to see Nanao in the hollow's clutches, blood running down her leg from where the creature's nail was digging into the soft flesh.

Shunsui stepped forward cautiously, not daring to do anything that might result in the hollow's talon from amputating her. He realized with abject horror as he neared that Nanao's eyes had fallen closed. She looked unconscious. Had she lost too much blood?

"Nanao!" he called urgently from his position behind and a little to the right of the hollow.

Nanao's tightly shut eyes flew open and Shunsui swore in amazement as a seemingly endless beam of violet-gold reiatsu burst from them, accompanied by the cool blast of a sudden wind, the air crackling with small sparks of gold and indigo lightning.

Then, almost as quickly as it had happened, Nanao's eyes rolled back in her head while the hollow was completely obliterated in a roar of light and sound.

Shunsui watched, almost in slow motion, as Nanao's body arced limply toward the ground, silhouetted by the electric blue light that had ended the hollow's existence.

She was falling at a startling speed, plummeting toward certain death and then…

She was in his arms.

Shunsui staggered slightly as her weight slammed into him. His legs gave out and he fell heavily to his quivering knees, clutching Nanao to his chest.

He had never been so frightened for the life of one of his subordinates in his entire career as a captain. He wasn't quite sure if he was more frightened that Nanao had almost lost her life, or of the lingering, ghostly feeling that somehow his life would never be as joyful again if she had.

"Yare," Shunsui breathed. "For someone who was supposed to be a safe and conservative fukutaichō, you sure are adept at scaring the shit out of me, Nanao-chan." He brushed some of her dark hair out of her incredibly pale face, noting that her reiatsu, still at an incredibly high level, was waning fast.

"Language like that is unbecoming in an officer of your rank," Nanao groaned.

Shunsui's heart leapt slightly as her eyes blinked open. They were glowing as they had before, only dimly now, like sapphires in candlelight.

The unnatural light soon faded completely from them and Shunsui was still slightly amazed at the sight of her uncovered eyes. Every emotion that was missed behind the rigid glass, hidden behind flashes of light, or a lowering of the gaze, was written in perfect and splendid detail across their blue-violet surface. He held her closer to her chest.

"There's no need to cradle me, Taichō," she said brusquely.

Shunsui did not miss the fact that she had only called him by his rank like many of the vice-captains did who were more comfortable with their commanding officers. The slight softening of her voice made it sound almost like an endearment. Almost.

"My Nanao-chan could have died," Shunsui stated, finding his voice. "Of course I must hold her tightly to reassure her that her beloved Taichō will always be here to prevent that occurrence."

Her eyes widened. He was smiling gently down at her, his earthen eyes crinkled at the corners. It was not the goofy grin that he usually gave her, but a sincere smile that seemed to hold some sort of promise in it.

"My Nanao-chan has the most beautiful and expressive eyes I have ever seen," Shunsui said, his tone slightly teasing.

It was only then that Nanao realized she was not wearing her glasses. He had seen _everything_. She turned her head away.

"Can you sit up on your own?" Shunsui said. She nodded. He maneuvered her carefully into a sitting position. Nanao fought back the urge to wretch as the world spun like a kaleidoscope around her. She threw out an arm to catch herself, the muscles shaking visibly.

Shunsui hesitated, but somehow sensing that this was the last time on earth he would want to try and coddle her, he went over and retrieved his zanpakutō, apologizing for having chucked them to the ground in his haste to break Nanao's fall. Then, he found her glasses which were thankfully intact. He polished the mud-flecked frames with the soft fabric of his shirt.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sliding the frames back onto their rightful place on her nose. He seriously pitied anyone who had suffered their removal.

"Yes, thank you. I'm fine," Nanao said, breathing ragged.

"You're bleeding," Shunsui said pointedly. "Blood usually does not indicate 'fine-ness' in my book Nanao-chan." He reached out with one hand, his thumb brushing the area around the wound.

"Not like you even own one," she hissed as he prodded the sensitive flesh.

He chuckled, his hand moving to the outside of her thigh in between the jaggedly torn cloth. Nanao fought the urge to gasp as goosebumps erupted over her flesh at the intimate contact. She knew (or at least she hoped) that her Taichō hadn't meant it to be so; he was just checking the severity of the wound. Still, Nanao was incredibly unused to being touched like this. There had been a few romantic interests in her academy days, but none of them had gotten even close to where Shunsui was now. The only one to have ever touched her like that had been _him…_

Nanao was torn from her thoughts by the sound of ripping fabric.

"What are you doing?" she demanded as Shunsui began to slide her now completely unattached pant leg down her calf.

"Lift your foot up for me, Nanao-chan," he said with a smile.

Shunsui was enjoying this immensely. Every minute brought a new revelation about his Fukutaichō. Like the fact that she had trembled under his touch. A fact which led him to believe that his Nanao-chan was fairly innocent when it came to the enjoyable situations he usually found himself in during long nights. She was also quite uncomfortable with showing her body he noted, as he deliberately rolled the fabric slowly over her ankle, allowing his hands to trail in a sensual manner over the bare skin.

_Damn,_ he thought as his eyes roved over the perfectly creamy flesh, the toned muscle that flexed elegantly beneath it. As Shunsui stared at the perfect combination of strength and femininity beneath his fingers he asked himself again why Nanao didn't have a long line of shinigami queuing up to date her. Why was no one as fascinated with her as he was? After seeing her fight, he had proof that there was passionate heart beating below her frigid exterior.

"Taichō, you never answered my question," Nanao said sharply, wondering just what he was looking at.

"I am still waiting for you to lift your foot up my Nanao-chan," he said smoothly, snapping his eyes back up to her face. Honestly, he hadn't been so easily thrown off balance by a woman since the academy. He wondered if he was losing his touch.

Looking at him skeptically, Nanao raised her small foot into the air, allowing him to slide the ring of fabric off before proceeding to rip it into long strips.

"I am still waiting for you to explain why you are decimating my pant leg," Nanao said dryly.

"Why to wrap your wound of course, Nanao-chan," Shunsui stated. "I don't think it's too deep, only long. I think it's best if we wait for the Fourth Division to look at it."

He balled up a wad of the residual fabric and blotted at the injury, wiping away all of the blood that had not yet dried fully. Nanao winced at the stinging sensation but thankfully did not start blubbering like one of the many fukutaichō before her who had unfortunately sustained an injury. The woman had wept all over his prized haori so badly that Shunsui had been forced to send it out for dry cleaning in order to remove the mascara stains. He had filed for her transfer the next day.

"Taichō," Nanao interjected when he moved to wrap the first make-shift bandage around her upper thigh, "I believe that I can bind the wound adequately, there's no need for you to do this."

"Of course there's a need, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, gently smacking her hand out of the way. "You are my Fukutaichō and you were injured in battle. It is my duty to tend to your wounds for the time being. Besides," he added, his eyes watching her face as he wrapped the first strip around her thigh, his fingers brushing the supple skin almost of their own accord, "wounds always heal faster when someone is there to help you staunch the bleeding."

Nanao noticed the change in his voice, the slight inflection in his tone that sounded almost like sadness. His hand stilled for a moment on her skin and Nanao looked up, startled to be staring into the earthen depths of his eyes.

_What do you have to see in a lifetime, _Nanao wondered, _to end up with eyes that look like his? _Her Taichō's eyes were endless whirlpools of experience, each second that they stared into the other's slightly astonished visage seemed to bring another memory whipping to the surface. Memories, Nanao wasn't quite sure, would ever be imparted to her, no matter how long she stayed by his side.

Nanao didn't even realize what she had just thought as his fingers suddenly shifted, causing butterflies to break out of the iron cocoons she had forcibly kept them in from the moment she had gazed upon the man who was to become her new commanding officer.

Shaking his reverie aside, Shunsui forced himself to concentrate on the task he was completing.

"There we are, lovely Nanao-chan," Shunsui said as he firmly knotted the binding.

"Thank you, sir," Nanao said, her eyes cast respectfully downward.

Shunsui chuckled. "Such formality again, Nanao-chan?" he asked. "I had rather hoped we had moved on from that."

"What do you mean Taichō?" she queried, her brow furrowing behind her glasses as Shunsui stood up, brushing dirt off of his haori.

"You haven't said 'sir,' for at least the last half an hour. You either called me Taichō, or nothing at all," he replied, holding out a hand to help her up.

"I am sorry for my disrespect, sir," Nanao said, horrified at her lapse in etiquette. She hadn't even realized she was doing it.

"Don't be," Shunsui said as she took his proffered hand and he tugged her effortlessly to her feet. "I rather liked it."

Nanao blushed as Shunsui steadied her when she tottered slightly on her injured leg.

"Are you alright, Nanao-chan?" he said, looking down at her, his gaze concerned. "Can you walk?"

Before she could answer him however, a loud unexpected voice blared in her ear, causing her to jump in surprise. Her injured leg protested under the sudden movement, giving out on her. Shunsui caught her deftly as she careened into his chest.

"I'll take that as a no," he said, his hands lifting her entirely into the air. Nanao glared exasperatedly up at him, before moving her hand to her ear to activate the forgotten radio.

"Ise Fukutaichō of the Eighth reporting," she barked into the earpiece, coloring as her Taichō threw his head back and laughed when he realized what had caused her to stumble. She was sorely tempted to wriggle her way out of his hold, but didn't want to risk anyone on the other line misinterpreting something in case he chose to make one of his usual flirtatious comments.

"We have dispatched all remaining hollows in the area and performed the konsō on all remaining souls. We are returning to the gate-opening site as soon as we end this transmission," Nanao continued, try desperately to sound professional as a previously buried part of her consciousness began noticing how wonderfully warm her Taichō was and how nice it felt as she was freezing. Her mostly missing pant leg was not helping the situation at all.

"You might have a problem there, Fukutaichō," the gruff voice from earlier returned. "We're having some technical difficulty opening the world gate at the previous location as a large group of cattle has decided to relocate their dumping grounds to the area." Nanao pulled a face at the crude announcement. "Seeing as the world gate can't be opened directly on top of living creatures, we're going to have to find another safe location for it."

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Nanao asked coolly.

"There's a village near your location. We believe it will be safe to open the gate near the outskirts of it. You can make your way there and we'll notify you when we have confirmation."

"Duly noted," Nanao said archly, trying to hide her frustration. She had been looking forward to a hot bath to ease the feeling of coldness that was overcoming her steadily.

She let go of the button with a sigh. "What is it, Nanao-chan?" Shunsui asked, looking down into her slightly perturbed features, a familiar expression. He was immensely glad that he, for once, was not the cause of it.

"There are technical difficulties opening the world gate at the appointed location," she informed him. "Control suggests that the new location will be on the outskirts of a nearby village and that we should make our way there while we wait for confirmation of the new opening point."

"Excellent," Shunsui said happily.

"Excuse me?" Nanao said, stepping away from him and testing her weight gingerly.

"We are in rural _Spain_, Nanao-chan," Shunsui pointed out with a grand sweeping gesture. "And we have just been handed an excuse to have more time to enjoy the beauty of our surroundings, maybe even see the local people. Can you walk?" he asked.

"Yes," Nanao replied. Though her wound stung slightly whenever she put weight on it, it was only an annoyance.

"Wonderful. Let us be on our way, Nanao-chan," he announced grandly, turning with a flourish of his haori. "On the way, to make the journey seem shorter, you can tell me all about what happened back there with the hollow."

Nanao blanched at his turned back as Shunsui as he began picking their way once more over the mud-strewn landscape and up into the hills.

"Hai, Taichō," Nanao responded dully, following in his wake.

* * *

A/N: Review or Hitsugaya will attack you in bankai. I said…brrrr…it's cold in here, Hyorinmaru must be in the atmosphere…..Oh-e-o-e-o, ice, ice, ice. 


	5. On the Language of Souls

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the delay, but school and late-night rehearsals for Jekyll and Hyde have been keeping me very busy. I think that there's only going to be one chapter left after this before I draw yet another story to its close. Also, the results for the **Shunsui/Nanao Challenge** are posted at the bottom; don't forget to check them out!

* * *

**A Test of Affection  
****Chapter Five: On the Language of Souls**

Nanao frowned in annoyance as her wounded leg twinged continuously every time she stepped onto it. She was fairly certain that the bleeding had stopped a while ago, around the time that she had stumbled off of the last boulder at the foot of the mountain and onto the dusty dirt path they were currently traversing.

She wasn't quite sure which was more irritating, the aforementioned wound, the inescapable feeling of coldness which seemed to have settled in her veins following the incident with hollow, or her Taichō, who was currently gliding serenely along beside her. He looked incredibly warm, framed by the last vestiges of twilight, and was humming a melody to what sounded like a rather crude drinking song. The late summer breeze danced over her face. She shivered, even though she knew that the air was, in reality, balmy and warm.

"Are you cold, Nanao-chan?" Shunsui asked, glancing at his companion curiously.

Nanao resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her Taichō was a mind reader, all right.

"No, I'm fine," she said, unable to prevent the shudder that ran through her as they rounded the corner, coming out from behind the shelter of the trees, and finally emerging onto the main road leading to the village.

"Yare, Nanao-chan," Shunsui scolded, as he drew his pink haori off of his shoulders. "You should stop saying that you are fine when you aren't, or else I'll just start to assume the opposite."

Nanao glared at him, but is usual effect was lessened as she trembled once more. Shunsui chuckled and moved to place his haori around his shoulders but Nanao scooted sideways out of his reach, hopping slightly to minimize the pressure on her bad leg.

"I am not wearing _that_," she stated firmly, in a tone that dared him to disagree.

"Why not, Nanao-chan? I am just trying to help you stay warm," Shunsui protested. "Besides, I think the color would look lovely on you."

"I refuse to wear anything so… ridiculously flamboyant, Taichō. Especially something so _pink_," she finished, staring at the garment as if it had personally offended her.

Shunsui threw his head back and laughed. "You should be a little more adventurous Nanao-chan. Perhaps you would look better in it than I do, though I doubt it," he added with a smile. "Is this more to your taste then?" He removed his captain's haori and wrapped it around her while she spluttered.

"But…I can't wear this!" Nanao objected, trying to ignore the enticing warmth of the fabric and hand it back to him.

"Nonsense," Shunsui refuted. He wrapped his hand over hers, securing it around the snow white material. "I am _ordering_ you to wear it Nanao-chan," he cut her off as she opened her mouth to protest once more.

Frowning, Nanao slid her arms through the coat. Though the garment was much too big for her (the sleeves fell past her hands and the hem barely hung off of the ground), Nanao resisted the urge to sigh as the fabric transferred the lingering warmth of his body into her freezing cold one.

"Thank you, Taichō," Nanao said softly, blushing.

"It looks good on you," Shunsui teased, swinging his favored haori back across his shoulders. "Would you care to tell me why you are so cold despite the marvelous warmth of this elegant night?" He cocked his head to the side slightly to get a better look at her face in the moonlight.

"It's an aftereffect of the excessive depletion of my reiatsu," Nanao replied. "If I utilize too much kidō, it throws my body temperature temporarily out of equilibrium until my reiatsu replenishes. Unohana Taichō cannot explain it."

Shunsui made a noncommittal sound, studying the woman walking next to him with a sideways glance. "I must admit that I've never had anyone under my command with such a problem, but I suppose that most of those with true strength in kidō are taken by the kidō corps. Why is it that you weren't sent there?"

Nanao shook her head. "I don't know. I have thought about it in the past, but…" she trailed off, not knowing exactly what to say.

"I am glad that you were not snatched away to live in secrecy, my Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, tucking his hands into his sleeves. "You would have been one of the greatest secrets the world has ever kept."

Nanao turned her head to look at him, eyes wide, but he had his face tilted toward the moon, its expression unreadable.

Brow furrowing, Nanao wrapped the haori more tightly around her, crossing her arms in front of her chest in a slightly defensive manner. There had been no trace of teasing in his tone, just simple, unadorned sincerity. How many sides could a man have to his personality? This inability to predict his behavior at certain times unnerved her greatly and made her more than a little uncomfortable.

"What happened earlier today, Nanao-chan?" Shunsui asked suddenly.

Nanao started. "What do you mean?" she queried back, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Who was that soul?" he returned, not one to hedge a subject. "And what exactly did you do that hollow? I have never seen anything like it. Your reiatsu practically quadrupled, even with the limit on it." Shunsui shook his head distractedly. "I was never informed that you had problems controlling your reiatsu. It wasn't in the file they sent me."

"You read a file?" she asked, genuinely surprised. "And I don't have problems controlling my reiatsu," Nanao added firmly when he shot her a strange look.

It was not a lie. Nanao had not had problems controlling her reiatsu since her entrance into the shinigami academy. Today had been the first time in what seemed like ages.

Shunsui looked into her fierce gaze intently. He did not think she was lying, or at least she was convinced that she was telling the truth.

"Then why did you lose control today, Nanao-chan?" Shunsui said, stopping abruptly.

"I suppose I panicked when my glasses fell off. I was afraid that you…would not want me as Fukutaichō anymore if you knew what I was capable of," Nanao said quietly, her gaze focused somewhere over his shoulder.

"And it never crossed your mind to be frightened for your life?" Shunsui returned incredulously. "Yare, Nanao-chan, if you act like that in every battle, you just might succeed in giving me a heart attack."

"If your liver does not give out first from all that alcohol you drink," Nanao said waspishly.

"Don't try to change the subject on me," Shunsui scolded playfully, raising an eyebrow. "I can see right through my Nanao-chan's clever plan."

"I wouldn't _dare_ try to insult your intelligence with such a menial course of action," Nanao drawled.

"You are lying, my Nanao-chan," Shunsui stated. "However, I suppose if you _really_ wanted to distract me, there are much more… effective methods," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Nanao dropped her head so he wouldn't see her roll her eyes.

After a moment, Shunsui curled his forefinger under her chin, guiding her eyes up to meet his. "Now tell me, Nanao-chan. Who was that soul?"

"I have never met him before," Nanao answered, her glasses flashing in moonlit defiance as she began to walk down the road once more in an attempt to get her Taichō to drop the topic.

"Then who did he remind you of?" Shunsui demanded, his hand snaking out to grasp her wrist. He tugged her back to face him. She stumbled slightly but her eyes remained fixed on the ground. "Nanao-chan?" he asked cautiously.

"Kyōraku Taichō," Nanao began, and when she lifted up her gaze to meet his he was surprised by the depth of pain that was etched onto it. "You have lived a long time and I am sure that there are many things engraved in your memory that you wish you could forget. Things that…even though you _know_ they affected you more deeply than they should have, you still cannot help how they make you feel. Things that… no matter how hard you try to bury them in your consciousness, they rise again unbidden and without warning." She turned her head away, her eyes closing hard beneath the shields of glass.

_Yes_, Shunsui agreed silently, _I_ _have seen many of those things_. Some had changed him for the better, while others had led him to take actions he was not proud of.

What had happened to his Nanao-chan? Was it a fallen comrade, a past mistake she blamed herself for, or a… _man_ that had done this to her? He waved the last thought away. How could a woman who blushed at his slightest touch, the mere suggestion of any type of intimacy have that reaction if she had enough romantic experience that it had resulted in a broken heart? _Still_…

"Please understand," Nanao pleaded softly, her head still turned to the side.

"I do. More so than you could possibly imagine, Nanao-chan," Shunsui responded, just noticing that her fingers were now cupped within his own. Had it been any other topic the position might have seemed suggestive.

Nanao's shoulders relaxed visibly.

"Thank you," she said quietly, her eyes meeting his for the briefest of moments before dropping to her small hand, warm beneath his calloused fingers. She had barely noticed. The actions between them had seemed so natural.

Observing her blush, Shunsui gave her hand one last, fleeting squeeze before releasing it. He turned to face down the dirt road and resumed walking. Silently, Nanao fell into step beside him.

- - -

"This is ridiculous," Nanao snapped as she was forced to perform an awkward side-step in order to prevent a person from running straight into her invisible soul. She clutched the large white haori closer to her body, not wanting any harm to come to it as they wended their way through the throng of people.

They had finally reached the village, only to find the small square overflowing with people dressed in brightly colored clothing, sporting wreathes of flowers and a general air of good humor. Lanterns hung from all the doorways, and candles flickered in the gentle breeze as they sat at the numerous mismatched tables that had been placed strategically in the square, the longest one groaning under the weight of the platters of food it was playing host to.

"_What_ is going on?" she demanded as a man who had his waistcoat unbuttoned and his shirtsleeves rolled up charged by her, balancing a large barrel on his shoulders.

"Some sort of celebration, I believe," Shunsui grinned, catching Nanao deftly as she tripped on the hem of his haori in her haste to dodge a pair of young women who were hoisting a sweet-laden platter between them. "Isn't it wonderful?" he asked, setting Nanao lightly back onto her feet.

"Wonderful isn't exactly the word I would have chosen, Taichō," she replied acidly.

"Come now, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said jovially, placing his hands on her shoulders and maneuvering her in front of him. "How can you ever enjoy yourself if you're so wound up all the time?"

"Being organized does not translate into being wound up," Nanao protested as Shunsui paused once they had reached the fringes of the crowd.

"You are _most certainly_ wound up," Shunsui corrected her, not even having the decency to wince at her glare. "Nanao-chan," he said gently, with the air of one explaining a simple concept to a small child. "Look around you― the flickering of candles in the night, the feel of the wind on your cheek, the snatches of song, and the swish of wine. There is unbridled _life_ all around you. It is a beautiful thing, yet you are too busy thinking of the paperwork piling up in your absence to appreciate this experience."

Nanao flushed and angrily and drew her hair away from her face, _again_. How did he know that she had been thinking of all of the work that she would have to complete the next day in order to make the first of the month deadlines?

"Well, it's hard to appreciate something you can't understand!" she snapped as a young couple, flushed with drink, darted past them into the alleyway between two houses.

Nanao stared, astonished, into Shunsui's twinkling gaze. She had finally realized what had been bothering her so much since they had entered the general mayhem. It was not merely the noise and disorder that was wearing on her nerves, but the fact that she had no idea what was going on because she could not comprehend a word the people were saying.

"Ay, la boda fue muy bonita," a young girl in a pink dress sighed as she past near Nanao's hip, arm in arm with her friend.

"Taichō," Nanao said slowly, "why can't we understand them?"

"Because they speak _Spanish_, Nanao-chan," Shunsui replied, patting her on the head in a patronizing manner.

"I meant, _sir_," she corrected through gritted teeth, "why can't we understand these people when we could understand the souls back on the mountain? Wouldn't they have spoken Spanish also?"

"That is simple, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, grasping her by the waist and pulling her towards him, preventing a fragile-looking old man with a cane from colliding with her. Shunsui leant down so that his lips were level with her ear, so that she could hear him better over the cacophony. "All souls speak the same language."

She shivered slightly as his breath caressed her check, hot against her icy skin. Shunsui smiled as he felt the tremor run through her body, one which he was fairly certain had nothing to do with coldness. He drew his head back slowly so he could see her red-tinted face.

Nanao looked up, her eyes widening behind her glasses as she realized just how they were standing. Shunsui had yet to remove his hands from her waist, and her own hands were lying gently against his arms. Her breath caught as hell butterflies swarmed in her stomach.

She had not been so close to anyone in years. Well, so close to a _man_. Matsumoto's hugs were unavoidable.

And even while they stood there looking like lovers, she could not bring herself to move.

"I…I don't understand," Nanao stammered softly. It was as if her brain had stopped functioning properly at his touch, the lightning quick repartee that flowed so easily between them, easing into something _else_.

"Don't you?" Shunsui asked. There was a hint of surprise in his voice. "My Nanao-chan's education has been seriously lacking then."

Nanao blinked as heat seemed to flood through her veins at the change in the quality of his voice. Confused, she wondered what was wrong with her. Perhaps she had a fever?

"Let me explain," Shunsui continued. "Even though all people have different personalities, dreams, and… desires," the last word sent a shiver down her spine, "we are in essence alike. Though we experience things differently, we experience them through the same emotions." He turned Nanao gently and, placing his hands on her shoulders, began guiding them through the crowd once more.

"Pain and suffering, joy and laughter, determination and fear, all of these become characters in the language that expresses a soul. With each heartache, with each genuine flash of emotion, the soul learns a new phrase. _We_ learn something, even if it a lesson that we have been taught time and time again." He steered her to the front of the milling crowd and into a narrow opening.

"There. You see, Nanao-chan?" he said, gesturing with one hand toward a previously unseen table. A man and woman were seated in the center. The woman was wearing a simple, yet elegant white dress, and flowers were woven into her long, dark tresses. The man sitting next to her leaned over to whisper something in her ear, causing her to blush prettily. Though Nanao had never seen a scene quite like this before, she was fairly certain now what the celebration was all about.

She turned her head in order to look up at her Taichō. Shunsui was smiling wistfully at the young couple. "I doubt you need a translator to understand that."

Nanao shook her head. "Are you always so poetic Taichō?" she asked, turning quickly away when he looked down at her again. She could not help but notice the way the lantern light played upon his hair, highlighting his masculine features and causing his eyes to sparkle. He was indeed _very_ handsome.

"I am afraid so, my Nanao-chan," Shunsui replied. "It is what comes of having lived such a full life. Unfortunately, it has not always been laughter and sake."

"Were you rejected or something?" Nanao snorted before mentally smacking herself.

"Yes, many times," Shunsui replied evenly. "But it only hurt when there was love to be lost. Those were the ones I remember the best."

"Why is that?" Nanao asked. She had meant the comment to be biting, but the curiosity in her tone betrayed her.

"Because love is the sweetest agony a man can endure, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, tweaking her nose and causing her to frown. "It is sweet bliss when you are in it, and when you lose it, it is absolute agony. Then, both you and your heart must come to the conclusion that you found something that was never meant for you to have. And when you fall in love again, you realize that before, you were looking for the wrong thing in the wrong place."

"And then what do you do?" Nanao drawled, feigning interest in the small band of musicians that was setting up on a small platform opposite the table where the bride and groom where sitting.

"You continue to look until you find the right thing in the right place, which will probably be at a very inconvenient time or land you in a very inconvenient situation," he chuckled. "That is only an assumption however. I have not yet reached that point."

Nanao did not reply. She had no idea how a person could just go out there and hand their heart over again and again, full of the knowledge that it would probably get broken, yet hoping on the off-chance that it would not. She did not think she could endure the pain, knew full well that she could not. When Nanao loved, she gave everything. It was the reason that she always held a part of herself back …

She drifted out of her thoughtful silence as the first few notes of a guitar were lifted over the din on the breeze. There was a small tinkling of bells, the deep tones of a cello, and the higher sound of a violin. Then there came the drum, an even pulsing that would suddenly skip, like the primal beat of a heart. The music was slightly intoxicating…it had a deep measured air, but a keening passion behind it that sounded like an expression of deep emotion.

"Look, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said quietly into her ear, motioning toward the large square of clear space in the center of the tables. An attractive man was leading a striking woman wearing a floor-length purple skirt and crisp white blouse into the middle of what Nanao supposed was meant to be a dance floor. They paused in the center and made a great show of rolling their sleeves up. The crowd laughed appreciatively, apparently aware of what was coming.

The woman placed her hand upon the man's shoulder as his hand came up to rest on her shoulder blade. Their hands slid almost sensuously together as their eyes met.

And then…they began to dance.

* * *

A/N: Hmmm…I don't know what's coming next, do you? Reviews are to me as sake is to Shunsui…neither of us can exist happily without the other.

* * *

**Shunsui/Nanao Challenge Winners**

**Thank you so much to all who participated as well as the four other judges. The voting was **_**really, really **_**close for most of the categories (and I'm not being patronizing when I say that). **

**The Pink Haori (Best Overall Story)- Winning the War by Dreaming One**

**The Rose Petal (Best Dramatic Piece)- Don't Make Me by Kenta Divina**

**Flashing Glasses (Best Plot Twist)- Duet by Ilea Dreike**

**Sake Bottle (Most Creative Plotline)- It's Not You by IluvsBakura**

**Honorable Mention- Sway by Philyra (This awesome story was runner-up by one vote for the Pink Haori Award. Read it and love it anyway.)**


	6. Of Dances and Foreshadowing

A/N: Sorry everyone for how long it's taken me to update this. I've been in Jekyll and Hyde for the past few weekends and between that and school, even finding time to sleep has been difficult. I have one more chapter planned for this story and I've already have tentative plans for writing a sequel to Tossed Aside which would start with the two lovebirds already together for a change of pace. I'm not certain about it though. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and don't forget to leave me a review!

* * *

**A Test of Affection  
****Chapter Six: Of Dances and Foreshadowing**

The slide of hands. The push and pull. The delirious spin. The _heat_.

_It is not so much a dance_, Nanao thought,_ as a moving expression of passion_.

Shunsui chuckled as he moved one finger underneath Nanao's chin and gently closed her gaping jaw. Startled and slightly irritated at his interruption of this spectacle, Nanao swatted his hand away.

"Yare, Nanao-chan, you look like you've never seen a man and woman dance together before," Shunsui said. Though his tone was light and teasing, there was a deeper curiosity behind the statement. He knew exactly what the dance reminded _him_ of, but he wondered if Nanao had ever participated in that particular…_dance_ before.

Blushing scarlet, Nanao crossed her arms and scowled at the couple. They were quickly stepping together and apart, the dance as fickle and powerful as the beating of a heart.

"Of course I've seen people dance together before, Kyōraku Taichō," she huffed. "I am _not_ an uncultured buffoon."

"I would never dare imply such a thing about my Nanao-chan," Shunsui smiled, tugging on a strand of her loose hair.

"Good," Nanao replied, slapping his hand sharply. Shunsui noted that, though her scowl remained forcibly in place, her eyes were following the couple eagerly like a member of the Eighth Division's who had just spotted a sake bottle in the room.

The man spun the woman into him, her long purple skirt fanning in a graceful arc around her feet. The woman pushed away from him, turning her head from his intent gaze only to be jerked back into his embrace, her leg whipping up to rest on his hip.

Shunsui whistled lowly in appreciation. He had never seen anything like it before, but he was quickly coming to see its value. If this dance could draw even his straight-laced Fukutaichō's attention, he bet it would even set Yama-ji's pulse quickening. Shaking his head in disgust at this image, a grin blossomed on his face as a much pleasanter inspiration struck him.

He watched as the couple executed one last turn, sinking to their knees in a passionate embrace on the last, strident note of music. He waited until the audience's applause had died down before turning to Nanao.

"Nanao-chan," he began, tucking his hands into his sleeves with an air of pensiveness.

"Hai?" she responded, brushing a strand of her burnished ebony hair behind one ear.

"I believe it is our duty to take advantage of this opportunity to prevent our becoming uncultured buffoons, as you put it. I feel that we must attempt to execute this… art form."

Nanao fixed him with a suspicious stare, her eyes glinting in the light of the lanterns. "Just _what_ are you suggesting, _sir_?"

Shunsui put on his most charming expression, holding out one large, weathered hand for her to take as the musicians took up a slower, haunting sort of tune. "Dance with me, my lovely Nanao-chan?"

Nanao stared at him as if he had just morphed into a hollow. "Like _that_?" she stammered, completely flummoxed.

Shunsui chuckled lowly, the sound sending ripples of heat through Nanao's frozen body.

"Yes, like that," he replied, his hand still outstretched.

"Don't you think that's terribly inappropriate?" Nanao said, attempting to sound harsh but failing miserably.

Shunsui's eyebrow rose imperceptibly. Either Nanao was worried about dancing with him because she figured she would embarrass herself, or she was worried about the fact that she was actually considering it.

"Taichōs often spar with their fukutaichōs. Do you know why they do this, Nanao-chan?" Shunsui asked, taking a step closer to her.

"To build trust," Nanao answered automatically.

"Exactly," he said firmly. "And how is this any different? I give my word that I will not touch you in any inappropriate manner…unless you want me to," he added with a roguish wink. Nanao merely rolled her eyes in response. "Do you trust your Taichō enough?"

"I…" Nanao began, her eyes locked on his hand. _It's just a dance_, she told herself firmly. _What harm could it do?_ She realized that her heart was more than a little frightened to discover the answer to that question. She held one small hand over his, hesitating.

"Take my hand, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, deciding to implement the one weapon he had quickly discovered she could not resist. "That's an order."

Automatically, Nanao slid her hand into his. She resisted the urge to sigh at the blissful feeling of warmth as his hand heated her rather brittle-feeling fingers.

"Taichō," Nanao said, glancing around them to where they were surrounded by reveling party guests on all sides. "I don't think that we have sufficient room here for dancing," she pointed out with relief. She was certain that he was going to drop her hand, as well as his ridiculous suggestion. She was only to be disappointed (while another part of her secretly rejoiced) when Shunsui tugged her to his side before vaulting nimbly up to the large flat roof of a house overlooking the festivities.

"There," he said, releasing his hold on her while maintaining his grip on her hand, "now we have more room."

Nanao avoided his satisfied gaze, allowing her own to rove over the dance floor below where several other couples had emerged to perform a less complicated version of the same dance. She jumped slightly as she felt a large hand glide up her back to rest on her suddenly very sensitive shoulder blade. Reticently, she placed her own hand lightly onto his broad pink shoulder, keeping her eyes trained on his Adam's apple. She was trying desperately to ignore the incredibly uncomfortable tightness that had settled in her chest at the unaccustomed closeness.

Shunsui was torn between exasperation and amusement at Nanao's reluctance to meet his gaze. Her small frame was stiffer than the bark of a sakura tree under his palm.

"Am I that ugly to look at, Nanao-chan?" he teased gently.

"No, sir," she responded stiffly, her spine growing even more rigid, if it was possible.

"My feet will not lead you my Nanao, my eyes will," Shunsui said gently, lowering his neck slightly in an attempt to look into her glass-covered eyes.

Against her better judgment, Nanao's eyes snapped up to meet his.

There was strength, warmth, and mischief in his gaze, which once again struck her as having not only the rich color of the earth, but its ageless wisdom as well. Nanao also did not miss the seriousness of his tone or the absence of the ridiculous nickname. She wondered suddenly if his words were meant to apply not just to frivolous dancing but to battle, the leadership of the division, and the more personal exchanges that were bound to take place between people who worked so closely together for long periods of time.

His eyes twinkled, alerting Nanao to the possibility of movement. Nanao stepped back, just as Shunsui's foot stepped forward in time to the beat of the music which was wafting up to them from below. He took another step and Nanao, who was so preoccupied with looking at his fascinating face, almost didn't move in time. She stumbled slightly, and he steadied her, taking a step closer so that their torsos were only a hairsbreadth away.

He stepped to the side and she followed. She tried to anticipate his next move and ended up stepping on his foot instead. He chuckled as he moved, bringing Nanao with him. Her glasses flashed in annoyance. Unable to adjust them, she settled for blowing her hair out of her face in frustration at the fact that he appeared to be a better dancer than she was.

"Let go, Nanao-chan," Shunsui prodded. "Feel the rhythm of the music." His words washed over her, causing her to stiffen.

Nanao frowned at his shoulder. She had only let go once in her life and look at how that had turned out…

He was now so close that it was becoming almost difficult to maintain eye contact. Shunsui smiled into her hairline as he kept stepping in time to the music. "Relax," he murmured next to her ear.

Nanao was about ready to shout at him that it was quite difficult to relax when her heart was racing about a thousand miles a minute and her stomach felt as if it had been pierced by a humongous hollow claw. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to ease her tensed muscles.

Allowing the measured time of the music to guide her, Nanao grew accustomed to the pressure that Shunsui's hand exerted onto her back, directing her to whichever way he planned to move next.

_This is actually pleasant, _Nanao thought as she grew more comfortable with the movement. _One, two, three, four_…_repeat_.

The world blurred suddenly. Nanao yelped in surprise as she was sent spinning away from Shunsui only to be pulled steadfastly against his chest, the overlarge white haori flaring out behind her like some sort of strange ball gown. She gasped as she found herself lifted off of the ground. Her hands flew up to grip his shoulders, her indigo orbs widening as she found their lips inches apart. Shunsui slid her slowly to her feet, smirking smugly as she landed exactly on the beat of the music.

Nanao winced slightly as her weight landed on her injured leg, sending jarring ripples of pain up her body. She pointedly ignored them as Shunsui swept her into the proper tango position once more. As the music swelled to a crescendo, Shunsui twirled her in his arms so that her back was pressed against his front. Her breath caught in her throat and she was rather sure that she was going to faint any moment from lack of oxygen. He wrapped both his arms around her waist and, without warning, twisted her into a low dip just as the violin held out one last note like the wailing of an unrequited heart.

And then her injured leg gave out beneath her.

She grit her teeth against the sudden pain. She had been so wrapped up in the dance that she had forgotten about her own mostly bare, wrapped up leg. She sagged in Shunsui's grip.

"Nanao-chan!" he said, the dreamlike smile fading from his face. "Nanao-chan, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she ground out, her hand flying to grasp protectively around her injury under the folds of the haori.

"There you go again, lying bold-faced to your Taichō" he said, lowering them both to the ground. Parting the fabric, he saw that the strips of cloth were wet with blood. She must have reopened the gash sometime during the dance. His fingers gently caressed the wound. "You should have told me you were in pain, Nanao. Why did you keep dancing?"

"Because I didn't want to disappoint you," she replied honestly, suddenly fascinated with the texture of the bandages around her thigh.

"You could never disappoint me, my wonderful Nanao-chan," Shunsui replied, brushing a strand of hair out of her eye. Nanao shifted, trying to dislodge the hand that was still resting comfortably against her thigh in a manner that wasn't really helping her heart rate.

"How do you know?" she protested, "I've only been your Fukutaichō for a little over a month."

"That's long enough to know that you're the most efficient fukutaichō that's ever passed through the doors to my office. You're punctual, despite the fact that's rather overrated, intelligent, dedicated, and fascinating. How could I _ever_ be disappointed by that? It's close to perfection," Shunsui finished gently.

Nanao blinked, surprised by the sudden sadness that had crept across his expression. She shifted her head to make sure she wasn't seeing things but the moment was gone.

"Kyōraku Taichō," she began only to be interrupted by the loud blaring of static that heralded a message from the technology department. Nanao started again in surprise. She hissed in pain as her leg argued the motion.

"_Yes_?" she growled into the microphone, hearing Shunsui's predictable chuckles beside her.

"Ise Fukutaichō?" Nanao was contented to hear a note of uncertainty in the crass voice on the other end of the line.

"I do hope you have a good reason for interrupting, seeing as I was in the middle of more important things, such as nursing the wound with which I was forced to climb down a mountain _before_ walking five miles on it," Nanao snapped.

She didn't understand why she was so irritated or why she was taking it out on the poor shinigami from the technology department. Sure, he was a little unpolished, but he didn't deserve such treatment. The truth was that she was a little disappointed. She had really wanted to ask her Taichō what would have made her perfect in his opinion, as perfection was something she had always strived for. She might have actually gotten an honest answer out of him seeing as he was in such an open and non-jesting mood at the moment.

"You're injured?" the man's voice sounded rather concerned. "Should I have a Fourth Squad relief team ready at the gate at your arrival?"

"No, thank you," Nanao returned gently. "You could however tell me why you called."

"I was calling to inform you that the gate location has been determined and that you're clear for passage," he gave Nanao instructions that would lead them to the prescribed site. Committing them to memory, Nanao thanked the man crisply and closed the connection.

"What was it this time Nanao-chan?" Shunsui asked with a small grin. "More cows?" He swore he could almost detect the slight tremor of her usually set lips. He could not deny the sense of personal triumph he felt at evoking such a reaction.

"I just received the new coordinates for the gate location," Nanao replied. "It's up the road on the opposite side of the village. We should get going if we want to make it on time."

She placed her hands on the tile of the roof and pushed herself gingerly to her feet, breathing deeply to keep the pain from affecting her as much. She tried not to notice that the pleasant feeling of warmth that had enveloped her as she was dancing with her Taichō had slipped away almost as quickly as it had come, leaving her with the feeling that her numb limbs were about to break off due to the excessive cold.

Resisting the urge to shake his head at his new Fukutaichō's almost disturbing level of stubborn pride, Shunsui stood up himself, only to blink in surprise as his face was met with white fabric. "Are you warm enough, Nanao-chan?" he asked, surprise in his voice. Tilting his head he could see that her small form was shivering.

"_Not exactly_," she replied, cursing her teeth for chattering. "But I would rather not get blood on your haori."

"Don't worry about it," Shunsui assured her, plucking the garment out of her grasp and wrapping it around her shoulders. "I would rather have my Nanao-chan warm than keep my haori clean. Besides," he added, making his way to the edge of the roof, smiling as he heard her footsteps follow dutifully behind, "a little blood might make it more interesting, as it's so…_plain_."

"I think it's rather _tasteful_," Nanao said, placing emphasis on the last word as she stared darkly at the cheerful pink of his back.

"Ah, Nanao-chan," Shunsui sighed dramatically as he paused at the edge of the roof overlooking the path that lead away from the square. "One day you'll come to admit that you secretly love my haori." He chuckled at the disbelieving expression on her face.

"I highly doubt that, _sir_," she responded coldly, adjusting her glasses.

He squished her close to his side before she could protest. "Never doubt your Taichō, Nanao," he told her cheekily before jumping.

He landed lightly, placing Nanao gently on her feet. "Would you stop doing that?" she cried indignantly the moment she touched the ground, delivering a smart rap to his shoulder.

"Doing what?" Shunsui replied innocently, placing his hands in his sleeves and beginning to make his way down the path. He deliberately kept his pace slow so that Nanao could keep up with him without injuring herself further.

"Carrying me as if I'm so weak I can't shunpo under my own power. I thought we agreed earlier that I am a more than capable officer," she retorted, the effect of her ire somewhat lessened by her shivering.

Shunsui turned his head to look at her, his eyes crinkling at the corner. "But my Nanao-chan is injured. I was merely being a good Taichō by aiding my Fukutaichō when she was in need."

Nanao scowled as she hobbled her way to stand next to Shunsui in the moonlit clearing where they were to return to Soul Society. "I thought that _I_ was supposed to be helping _you_."

"A Fukutaichō and a Taichō are a team. We must look after each other," Shunsui replied gently, the affection in his eyes illuminated by the light spilling out of the gate before them.

He held out an arm, gesturing her to step through. "I'll go after you, my cute Nanao-chan."

Even he didn't know how true those words would become.

* * *

A/N: Review or I'll tell the Eighth Division that you've got a year's supply of sake hidden in your house. You know how terribly disappointed they'll be when they find out it isn't true…. 


	7. Full of Promise

A/N: 'Ello, 'ello! I apologize again for the long wait for chapters, but the last month has been crazy, and it's only going to get worse. However, the good news for you all is that this is the last chapter of this story. I might write a sequel to Tossed Aside, but the details are sort of sketchy right now. I may take any free time I have to finish a few requests that I was given ages ago. Thank you all so much for your continued support of my stories, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

* * *

**A Test of Affection  
****Chapter Seven: Full of Promise**

The gentle blue glow washed over the crisp white walls of Nanao's spotless quarters, making it appear as if the small table in front of the room's proprietor was playing host to a large jar of blue fireflies. The light played on the glint of concentration in Nanao's sapphire eyes as she worked on the specimen before her with all the meticulous precision of a surgeon.

Sighing as the tension flooded out of her body, Nanao watched as the remnants of her delicately controlled reiatsu dissipated and the soft chanting of her kidō spell faded into the stillness. She brushed away a rebellious lock of hair which had escaped from the rigid confines of the pins she had been forced to substitute for her ruined clip before smiling in satisfaction at her handiwork.

Handling it as though it were constructed of glass, Nanao placed the perfectly preserved blossom onto the dark background, enclosing both in the simple wooden frame.

_Beautiful,_ she thought as she secured the fastenings on the back. Knowing that she was being rather…_silly_, Nanao picked up the brush she had brought with her and dipped it with practiced care into the jet black ink. Then, in her absolute best calligraphy, she inscribed on the wood the date and the meaning of the flower, even though she knew it was something that she would never forget.

"_Yare," Shunsui breathed, pausing in the dim light of the tunnel while Nanao limped determinedly behind him. _

_Nanao paused immediately. "What's the matter Taichō?" she demanded, her eyes shifting back and forth, trying to discern the threat in the gloom. _

"_You are," he said with a great air of martyrdom. "Come here," Shunsui ordered. He slid his arm around her waist and draped her other arm across his shoulders, taking most of the weight off of her injured leg. He continued to walk, matching his longer strides to her smaller ones without complaint. Nanao seriously wanted to protest but remembered his veiled reprimand from earlier._

"_Don't say anything," Shunsui added, seeing her move to speak. "I'm going to help you when you need help, so you might as well get used to it. Otherwise, I suggest you go start looking for a new division in the morning." _

_Nanao remained dutifully silent throughout the rest of their trek. They emerged from the bleakness of the tunnel and into a moonlit grove in the wooded area on the outskirts of the Seireitei. _

"_There," Shunsui said, placing her gently down on a gnarled old tree stump. "Rest for a moment before we take you to the Fourth Division to get that leg looked at." He allowed his eyes to stray to the glorious appendage._

"_Kyōraku Taichō, my wound is not that serious. I highly doubt that it's worth wasting Unohana Taichō's time over," Nanao said heavily as she pulled the white haori closer around herself to guard against the light summer breeze. _

"_And have your beautiful flesh marred by such an unsightly mark?" Shunsui said in horror, bending over and running his hand suggestively up her bare flesh. He quickly removed his digits away from the danger of Nanao's raised hand. _

"Sir,_" she growled menacingly. _

"_No, Nanao-chan," Shunsui affirmed, patting her on the head patronizingly. "I could not allow it." _

_He leant back on the trunk of a large flowering tree adjacent to Nanao's makeshift seat, tucking his arms into his sleeves in a gesture Nanao now recognized as habitual. Shunsui allowed his head to fall back onto the rough bark, his eyes titled upward to look intently at the star-flecked sky. The corners of his usually laughing eyes, tilted downward again in an expression Nanao decided greatly displeased her. _It's odd_, she thought, _that the man can drive me insane with his refusal to be serious, but the moment he is, I decide that I can't stand it.

"_Sir?" she said, the second she could not stand the silence any longer. _

"_Yes, Nanao-chan?" Shunsui said with a slight tone of surprise, glancing up between the red petals which were falling like bleeding hearts between them. _

"_Would you tell me what you were going to say earlier? Please?" she added uncomfortably when his brow knitted. _

"_What are you talking about?" Shunsui asked, though he was fairly certain he knew where his Fukutaichō was going. _

"_Earlier, you said that it was 'almost perfect,'" Nanao returned, adjusting her glasses. "I wondered what might… make it so." He noticed her hand stray to her upper arm, the long fingers trailing over the Eighth Division insignia emblazoned on the pristine badge._

_He made an odd sort of sound in the back of his throat, a sort of disbelieving laughter. "Make this… arrangement perfect or make _you_ perfect, Nanao-chan?" he asked shrewdly. _

_Her head shot up and Shunsui was not surprised to see shock at how easily he had read her in her luminous eyes. He was however, almost floored to see anger and fear in their twilight depths. _

_What could have happened to his exquisite Fukutaichō to make her close her heart off? To thirst for cold and unattainable perfection that would undoubtedly shatter the half-finished masterpiece of a woman before him? Nanao may have had the highest test scores of her graduating class, but she was definitely lacking an education._

"_It was foolish of me to ask," Nanao said shortly as she tottered to her feet. "I'll take my leave, sir, if you don't mind." She bowed and made to hobble toward the Eighth. _

"_I most certainly do mind," Shunsui stated pleasantly._

_Nanao paused in mid-stride. Despite the potential seriousness of the situation, one which he knew he must get the better of if he meant to keep his Nanao-chan planted firmly in his division, Shunsui could not help but admire his Fukutaichō's trim backside. _

_He approached her slowly, seeing her start to bristle at what she deemed to be a purposeful waste of her time. He felt almost guilty for making her stand on her injured leg but Shunsui knew from personal experience that emotional wounds lasted long after those on the body had completely healed. _

"_Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, taking hold of one arm and turning her around to face him. _

_He found himself possessed with the strange notion to risk a harassment charge and kiss her senseless until she either slapped him away or melted into him with the same amount of blistering passion that was smoldering in her cobalt eyes. Her teeth were digging into her slightly swollen bottom lip in an attempt to either hold back tears or a frustrated scream; he hadn't quite come to a conclusion as to which one it was, yet. _

"_Have you ever heard of _wabi sabi_?" Shunsui asked, noting with a smile that his hand had fallen down to grasp hers and she had yet to break the contact._

"_No sir," Nanao grated, incredibly annoyed at the electric hum that broke out over her skin as his thumb moved absentmindedly over her skin. "Stop doing that!" she practically shouted, jerking her hand out of his grasp. _

_Shunsui looked up at her flushed face, startled. He knew that Nanao was not overly comfortable when it came to contact, but was she really that sensitive to it? It was difficult to maintain a straight face as the images of Nanao's possible reactions to him touching her _otherplaces_ came to the forefront of his mind. _

"Wabi sabi_," he continued placidly, as though her outburst had never occurred, "is a concept in Japanese art. It is the belief that imperfect, incomplete, and unfinished things are beautiful. Like this flower," Shunsui said, reaching up and tenderly plucking an ordinary blossom off of the tree behind her. _

"_It's beautiful, no?" Shunsui said, twirling the delicate object back and forth in his fingers._

"_It's a flower," Nanao returned, her eyebrow arched. _

"_Is there anything wrong with it?" Shunsui asked, his eyes focused intently on her face. _

"_No," Nanao replied icily. "It's perfect. Taichō, I don't see what this has to do with anything." _

"_Look closer, Nanao-chan," Shunsui urged patiently, holding the blossom near to her face for better inspection. "Can you not see that the color on one petal is different from the others? Another petal is also somewhat smaller than the others," Shunsui pointed out. _

_Nanao wondered where he got off criticizing some poor flower when he had more faults than the tree had branches. She watched as Shunsui brought the blossom to his nose and inhaled its perfume as if it were the familiar scent of a lover's skin. _

"_Though this flower is not perfect, its imperfections make it unique, unlike any other on the whole tree. And, because of that, it is beautiful. You are neither perfect, completely whole, nor finished, Nanao-chan. However, it is impossible to find someone who is all of these. I am admittedly imperfect, unfinished and… woefully incomplete." Their eyes met and the possible implications behind Shunsui's words made Nanao's throat feel unexpectedly dry._

"_Even though I have known that you were none of these things since you walked into my office," Shunsui continued, soaking up the delightful reactions playing across Nanao's face, "it is precisely these things that make you intriguing. Perfection is a cruel master, Nanao-chan," he said, tucking the flower behind her ear, taking advantage of her shock to let his fingers linger. "Your beauty must be protected from such a cruel whip." _

_Nanao decided then and there that every word she'd ever heard about Kyōraku Shunsui being the most skilled lover in Seireitei were all undeniably true. If the man could say things like _that_ and have the end result be a malfunction of the knees, instead of a churning of the stomach, then he would certainly have no problem seducing women into bed. Determined to maintain her professional boundaries, Nanao went to take a step back but her aforementioned romantically inclined knees gave way, accompanied by a jerking spasm from her leg. _

_Shunsui's arms were around her before she could blink in surprise. She placed her arms bracingly on his chest in an attempt to keep him a safe distance away and balance herself at the same time. _

"_Yare, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, preparing to hoist her fully into his arms. "We should get you to the Fourth before that leg gets any worse." _

"_Not until you answer my question, Kyōraku Taichō," Nanao said stubbornly. Shunsui sighed in defeat when she hobbled out of his embrace and over to the tree, which she leant against for support, clutching the bark and looking at him expectantly. _

_He was once again struck by the urge to cover her lips with his as she stood under the moonlit shadows of the tree, looking like some ethereal guardian of the night wrapped in the open haori. Her exposed leg stuck out like a graceful invitation. He forced himself not to obey the compulsion to wrap his hands in her tousled hair and discover all the wonderfully unique imperfections she hid underneath her neat uniform._

"_I thought I just told you that perfection was an unrealistic goal, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said._

"_Then what would solidify your satisfaction with me as your Fukutaichō?" Nanao corrected herself, glittering eyes glistening with curiosity._

_Shunsui sighed mightily, turning his head to look up through the ruby branches of the tree. "Affection," he said finally. _

"Excuse me?"_ Nanao choked. He couldn't _possibly_ mean the only way to secure her position was to…_

"_I don't mean you have to go to bed with me, Nanao," he said with a soft smile as Nanao promptly blushed scarlet in embarrassment. "I merely meant that I would like you to have at least some hint of feeling toward me that is not just loyalty due to duty. I only wish for us to have the trust and respect for one another that is born of friendship. If we are to work well together, fight side by side for what could conceivably be a long period of time, I did not want it to be only cold duty that bonded us." Shunsui turned to face her, and Nanao was sure her jaw had fallen to rest on the roots of the tree, surprised as she was to see the raw hope shimmering in his eyes._

"_It is why I volunteered us to go on this mission today," Shunsui explained with a shrug. "It was a…test of sorts to see if that sort of friendship was possible between us." He reached up and secured the flower behind her ear. _

"_Nanao-chan, I am already more fond of you than I have been of most of my fukutaichōs in my time as head of the Eighth," he admitted. "The only left for me is to ask you if you think you can last longer than the others."_

"_Taichō," Nanao began but was cut off by a loud feminine voice cutting through the clearing._

"_Kyōraku-san! Nanao!" Matsumoto Rangiku shouted as she came running up to greet them. "There you are! We've been waiting for you. We thought something terrible had happened since Kyōraku-san didn't show up for our appointed drinking time!" She threw her arms around Shunsui's neck, who was regrettably too tall when standing to be the recipient of one of the strawberry-blonde's infamous 'Hugs of Death.'_

"_I'm sorry, Ran-san," Shunsui said in an amused voice. "Nanao-chan and I only returned a few minutes ago. We were resting before we walked Nanao over to the Fourth." _

_Startled at this pronouncement, Matsumoto whirled around to examine Nanao. Her eyes widened in surprise as she took in her friend's rather un-Nanao-like appearance. Her gaze lingered on Nanao's bare leg and the overlarge white captain's haori which dwarfed her small frame. _

"_Oh, you _poor_ thing!" Matsumoto cried, flinging her arms around her unfortunately petite best friend. "All cut up by hollows and no sake for the pain!" _

_Shunsui grinned as he watched Nanao squirm, trying to extract herself from the valley of Matsumoto's generous cleavage. _

"_Ran-san, perhaps it's best if you let Nanao-chan breathe. I hear suffocation is a hindrance to the healing process," Shunsui said mildly after a few moments when Nanao's barely visible forehead became an alarming shade of red. _

"_I'm so sorry," Matsumoto said, releasing the rather ruffled Nanao, who glared darkly at her. "Here, why don't you let me take you to the Fourth," Matsumoto offered partly out of curiosity and partly out of desperation to hear exactly how Nanao had come to lose an entire side of her hakama _and_ wear Shunsui's haori. _

"_Thank you," Nanao accepted demurely. She was too tired to argue anymore. Her leg was now throbbing painfully and she was beginning to fear infection. She pushed off of the tree and allowed Matsumoto to wrap an arm around her without protest._

Interesting_, Shunsui mused as he watched his diminutive Fukutaichō lean comfortably on Matsumoto for support. There was no stiffening of the shoulders or hesitation when Nanao was with someone she obviously trusted. _

"_Oh, Kyōraku-san," Matsumoto said, pausing to call over her shoulder. "Ukitake Taichō was waiting for you, in case you turned up while I was out looking. Will you go tell him you're back? I'll be right there as soon as I get Nanao home." The blonde winked conspiratorially at him, and Shunsui knew that Nanao was in for the third degree concerning her non-existent pant leg._

"_Of course, Rangiku," Shunsui agreed readily. He had been planning on going to see Ukitake anyway. "Goodnight, Nanao-chan," he said, going to take a shortcut through the woods toward the Thirteenth. _

"_Wait!" Nanao called suddenly. Surprised, Shunsui turned around to see her tottering down the path toward him. "You almost forgot this," she said, removing the white haori and handing it to him with a formal bow. _

"_I thought I told you to cut out that formality crap," Shunsui said with a frown.  
_

"_Old habits die hard, _sir_," she replied and Shunsui could have sworn that she was baiting him. "I'll be in the office at eight tomorrow," she added. "I should expect to see you around eleven?" _

_Shunsui could not hold back his grin for he knew it was Nanao's way of answering his earlier question. _

"_My fair Nanao-chan knows me as well as one of her precious books," he said snatching her hand and placing a gentle kiss on the knuckles before she could object. "I'll see you tomorrow, Nanao-chan." And with that he was off, swinging his haori over his shoulder, allowing it to dangle from a finger. _

"_So… _tell me_," Matsumoto said with an air of forced casualty, "exactly _how_ did you happen to lose an entire pant leg, your hair clip, and come to wear his haori?" _

Nanao smiled to herself as she put the framed flower in a place of honor on her bookshelf. It was the first flower a man had ever given her. And somehow, it seemed fitting that it was her Taichō who held the honor.

Rubbing her eyes, Nanao slid open the door to her quarters and stepped out into the now properly warm-feeling night air. She had returned from the Fourth some hours ago, her warmth fully restored due to the healing prowess of Unohana Taichō and the replenishment of her reiatsu over time.

She leant on the railing overlooking the central square of the Eighth. She blinked, surprised to see a familiar figure crossing the deserted cobblestones. The broad, pink clad frame seemed to melt into the shadows, almost as if her inability to banish him from her thoughts had caused him to materialize in front of her.

- - -

Shunsui paused as he crossed the square to his quarters above the office. Almost subconsciously, he sought Nanao's reiatsu, wondering if she was sleeping peacefully. He glanced up at the door to her quarters and was surprised to find her awake, leaning on the rail of the deck, dressed in an indigo yukata.

The ivory of her skin was gilded in the glow of the lamps that lit the outdoor corridor. Though her face was half in shadow, he knew that their gazes met and held. An emotion he hadn't felt in years swooped in his stomach and he knew that Jūshirō had been right.

"_Ah, there you are, Shunsui," Ukitake called from his reclining position on the many cushions piled on the patio of the Thirteenth Division captain's quarters. A few feet away, a fire burned merrily in an old urn to provide light. On the small table in front of him there were five cups and an assortment of bottles as well as a bowl of what appeared to be the white-haired Taichō's favorite candy. "You just missed Isshin-san and Kiskue-san, I'm afraid."_

_Shunsui made a noncommittal sound. _

"_Did Rangiku-san find you?" Ukitake asked, sitting up and pouring his eldest friend a drink. _

"_Yes," Shunsui responded, taking the cup. "She'll be back after she takes Nanao to the Fourth."  
_

_Ukitake almost spat out his drink. "What?" he asked. "Ise-san is hurt? Is she alright?" he demanded worriedly. He had only truly gotten to know Shunsui's Fukutaichō recently, but had taken a great liking to her. Not only did she have excellent taste in literature, but she was more than adept at keeping Shunsui in line. It was most amusing to watch them interact. _

"_Nanao-chan is fine," Shunsui said, leaning back on the pillows. _

"_Well, I'm assuming she is, or else you wouldn't be smiling like that," Ukitake said, surveying his friend's goofy grin. "I haven't seen a look like that since you got what-was-her- name to talk to you back in the Academy days."_

_Ukitake inhaled sharply, a look of horror overtaking his calm features. "Shunsui, tell me you didn't seduce Ise-san in the mountains." _

"_No," Shunsui assured him. "The mountains wouldn't suit her at all. Nanao needs silk and moonlight and dancing candles. Perhaps a waterfall at midnight, but _never_ the mountains." _

"_So you _are_ thinking of seducing her?" Ukitake prodded incredulously. Though he didn't see Ise-san as the type to be easily bedded, he doubted her resistance when it came to his friend's infamous charms. _

"_I would if thought she could be swayed," Shunsui said. "But even though she could most likely never give in, I'm more than tempted to try my hand at it." _

"_Are you sure she isn't just appealing to you _because_ she's resisted you?" Ukitake interjected seriously. "I mean, when was the last time a woman lasted a month against you? The longest record a female fukutaichō has in your office is three months! They all leave either because you break their hearts without meaning to or you skink them beneath the paperwork. When are you going to give one a chance to last?" _

"_When I've found the right one," Shunsui returned, rolling his eyes jovially. "And Jyū," he said, clapping his friend on the shoulder, "I think I have." _

_Ukitake placed his cup down on the table in a measured gesture. "And what makes Ise-san so special, might I ask?" _

"_Of course you can," Shunsui said, taking a large sip of his drink. "She's intelligent, unlike so many of the other idiots they sent me. But, despite the fact that she's probably read all the books in the Academy's library, she still has so much to learn. Things I can teach her Jūshirō," Shunsui added earnestly. "She's also positively fierce in battle and yet, still so unsure of herself." _

_He flopped backwards onto the multitude of cushions with a dramatic sigh. "You should see the suppressed passion in her eyes, Jyū, it's absolutely breathtaking. Like the twilight after a storm." _

"_My, it sounds as if you're half in love with her already, Shunsui-kun," Ukitake remarked with a teasing smile which quickly faded when Shunsui failed to respond. _

"_Shunsui, listen to me," Ukitake said solemnly. "I know that you never set out with the intention to hurt someone when you enter a relationship, but it often ends up that way." He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You said yourself that Ise-san is vulnerable. If you cause her to open her heart to you, you _must _be absolutely certain that you are not about to break it." _

_Shunsui looked at his friend with an expression of only slightly melodramatic shock. "What kind of man do you take me for, Jyū?"_

"_One whose heart is to big for him to manage," Ukitake replied with a smile. "_Promise me,_ Shunsui." _

_Shunsui heaved a sigh and took a thoughtful gulp of sake. He was not a man who took giving his word lightly. "Only, for you Jyū-chan," he said begrudgingly. _

"_I _promise_ that I will not make a serious move toward Nanao-chan unless I am certain that I want a long-term relationship. Are you happy now?" he quipped, shooting an unsatisfied look at his friend. _

"_Yes, I am" Ukitake responded, sipping his own drink._

"_Well, that makes one of us," Shunsui murmured loudly under his breath, causing Ukitake to laugh until he was overtaken by a fit of coughing. _

Shunsui allowed his gaze to soak up the sight of the once again neat and trim Nanao in the moonlight. There was a softness about her that was obviously missing during the day, when she stepped into the role of (the only) ruthless executer of paperwork in the Eighth Division. She stood with her weight shifted onto one foot, causing her perfectly proportioned hip to stick out just slightly, her forearms resting on the railing of the deck. The effect was that she looked fragile at the same time unwittingly seductive.

As the impulses that he had never bothered to deny before clutched once more in his gut, accompanied by the previous swooping sensation, Shunsui knew already that his promise to Ukitake was going to be an extremely difficult one to keep.

Shunsui reached up and tipped his hat gallantly at her in acknowledgement. He allowed his trademark lopsided grin to blossom over his face as his Nanao-chan gave her own faint nod of farewell in return before she disappeared into the shadowed realm of her quarters.

Whistling, Shunsui swept off towards his own rooms once more, the words Nanao had spoken earlier ringing in his head.

"_I am sure that there are many things engraved in your memory that you wish you could forget. Things that…even though you know they affected you more deeply than they should have, you still cannot help how they make you feel…"_

_Yes_, he thought, as warmth blossomed in his chest as visions of Nanao— in his arms, dancing with him, clutching the tree in stubbornness— filled his mind without permission. He was beginning to wish that he could simply erase the deep sense of attachment to his adorable Fukutaichō he had developed over the last month, as he was sure his blossoming feelings would only lead to complications in the future.

_On the other hand_, Shunsui thought, the grin returning in full force. When had the thought of complications ever stopped him when there was a beautiful woman involved?

And this wasn't just any beautiful woman. This was his Nanao-chan. Somehow, Shunsui knew she would be worth the wait.

* * *

A/N: Review or I'll never write another Shunsui/Nanao fanfic again… 


End file.
